


Shadows Fading into Light

by Bbaegi



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, M/M, Minor Character Death, chanyeol has blue skin lmao, this is not horror at all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-01-15 06:45:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 118,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12315867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bbaegi/pseuds/Bbaegi
Summary: When Baekhyun had prayed for someone to take him away from his monsters, he hadn't really imagined landing in a place full of a different kind of monsters.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> warnings: parental abuse and bullying only in the prologue, it isn't present in the rest of the story

Noise was the full time inhabitant of any high school in the world, it would always be there, sliding along the walls of the corridors and following the students wherever they went, in the classrooms, in the bathrooms, in the teachers' offices, but especially in the lunchroom. As his ears were trapped in the hold of a cacophonous melody made out of silverware clinking against plates, students laughing and conversing, some of them eating with their mouth open for anyone to hear or see what was inside, Baekhyun was once again infinitely glad that he didn’t have sensitive ears or a sensitive head.

 

The perpetual noise of the school was never really what gave him a headache during his days spent there and even if he didn’t particularly like it, it was much easier to ignore people’s loud voices merging together in the air than whispers exchanged at the back of a mildly silent classroom. The lunchroom wasn’t his favorite place in the school — that would be the library — but the food was decent today and almost too quickly, he shoveled up spoonfuls of plain, tasteless rice that he brought up to his mouth, swallowing it all down quickly, as if his tray of food would be stolen away from him at any second now.

 

However, today, Baekhyun wasn’t fast enough.

 

"Look who once again decided to steal our table, guys," a low yet somehow high voice arose next to him, a shadow drawing on him and concealing his face from the ugly, dirty yellow lights of the lunchroom. Baekhyun’s hand froze in front of his mouth, a few grains of rice falling off his fork much slower than the pace of his heart suddenly plunging down to his stomach. 

 

He hadn’t been fast enough. He kept his gaze ahead of him, jaw tightening and teeth crushing the remains of rice in his mouth. The lunchroom was still boiling noisily around him, heated up by the voices and the sounds that seemed to rise in the air like thin, ghostly figures of smoke. Baekhyun felt suffocated by it.

 

"I think the freak’s just looking for friends, Taeyong. Maybe he thinks that if he continuously steals our table, we’ll pity him enough to accept him into our circle," another loud voice dripping with amusement slid unpleasantly into Baekhyun’s ears. He slightly bit into his tongue to keep himself from laughing at the way Yuta spoke of of himself and his three other friends as if they were some important, high-class _circle._

 

_Keep it in. Ignore it. Collect yourself. Ignore it._

 

"Well, I do pity the way he dresses like a beggar but that doesn’t mean he can steal _our_ table," Taeyong spoke again and Baekhyun could feel that same feeling simmering in his stomach like it did every single day he stepped foot into this damned high school. 

 

He kept quiet. He kept his gaze straight. He kept looking in front of him even if anguish was glaring at him heatedly, kicking him in the stomach almost hard enough for him not to be able to ignore it. He felt his hold around his fork tightening. Ignore them. He had to ignore them.

 

He heard only two voices but he knew four people were standing next to him. They were always in group. They never walked around alone, they were either in groups of two or the four of them together. It was almost as if they gained power from each other’s presence. Or maybe they just constantly felt the need to impress each other and whoever was there too see their malicious behavior. Baekhyun didn’t know. He didn’t need to know. He only needed to ignore them.

 

However, that seemed to displease the four students standing next to him and suddenly, he felt someone kicking at his chair’s foot hard enough for him to slide away the slightest bit, the metal scratching against the floor in a screech. He almost dropped his fork in his haste to hold onto the table to stay in place even if he knew that Taeyong wasn’t strong enough to simply make him fall off his chair.

 

_Keep it in. Ignore it._

 

"We told you do move. Are you deaf?" Taeyong spat out and finally, Baekhyun looked up at him sharply. 

 

"Yesterday, your table was that one on the corner of the room," he mumbled, pointing to said table with a nod of his head. It was unoccupied. 

 

Taeyong simply dropped his tray on the table with a loud thump, pressing his hands on the hard surface next to it as he leaned down, closer to Baekhyun who never once turned his gaze away from the other’s cruelly amused and slightly irked one. 

 

"That table is mine," he started, nodding towards the same table. "This one is too. The one next to it is mine too," Taeyong slowly said with his low, threatening voice. He probably thought he sounded like some kind of gangster. Baekhyun simply felt irritation whispering in his head, tempting him to grab the perfect occasion to simply grab Taeyong’s perfect hair and pull his head down right into his still half-full plate of rice and suspiciously sauced fish. 

 

However, Baekhyun knew that wouldn’t end well. There was four of them. He was alone in a room full of obnoxious high school students. The best thing to do would be to ignore them, do as they said, and run away from trouble. He had tried fighting it off before. It hadn’t ended well. He still had the scar on his shoulder.

 

Taking a deep breath, Baekhyun did his best to ignore the three irksome snickers that reached his ears and the way Taeyong’s smile widened enough to turn into a grimace of victory. He dropped his fork on the tray and looked down at the food he still had to eat. His stomach was still grumbling in hunger, he hadn’t eaten breakfast this morning. He had woken up too late and had no choice but to skip it or else he would’ve ended up late to school. 

 

Not that it had helped, he still had missed the bus and suffered through a walk of half an hour to reach school a bit tardily. Baekhyun knew what that meant. Days that started badly only worsened with time and turned into a disaster. 

 

However, he knew that not fighting back would be the wisest thing to do in order to avoid his day turning into a disaster so early so he sighed and without any other word, he grabbed his tray and  stood up with the intent to bring it to the cleaning workers on the other side of the room. He heard Taeyong and his friends snickering again but he ignored it. Ignoring it was the best thing to do.

 

Or maybe ignoring them wasn’t that much effective because right when he walked past Sungwoo who had been quiet until now, he felt his feet catching up on something and he tripped, crashing down on the floor with a soft yelp. Instantly, the noise around him stopped, silence screaming loudly into his ears for a second before he heard the first note of laughter followed by another one and another one before the whole room laughed and threw in remarks he tried not to decipher. 

 

He threw a glare over his shoulder, catching Sungwoo’s unapologetic smile and his shrug before he looked at Taeyong as if seeking for approval.

 

"Looks like he’s completely useless, he can’t even walk properly," was the only thing Taeyong said and Baekhyun bit down on his tongue hard, feeling humiliation bursting through him like a cold, wounding wind. 

 

He quickly scrambled up to his feet again, infinitely glad that at least he hadn’t broken his glass or any plate. He saw one of the cleaning ladies walking towards him with an irritated expression, her eyes narrowing a bit as she held a mop in her hand. There were grains of rice and cubes of fish swimming through a sea of yellow sauce on the floor and Baekhyun parted his lips to apologize profusely and offer to clean things up himself but before he could even get a single word out, she cut him off.

 

"Just go, I can’t deal with a whiny kid now," she snapped, shaking her head. "Bring your tray up and don’t trip this time," she continued, mockery obvious in her voice.

 

He heard another round of snickers behind him and mortification filled him up, anger sizzling in his stomach as he looked over his shoulder and met Taeyong’s gaze. They were settled at his table, eating as if nothing was wrong.

 

He kept quiet and walked away. Ignoring them was the best thing to do. Ignoring them would eventually make them stop. One day. They would stop one day. 

 

He left the lunchroom after sliding his plate to the cleaning ladies and not for the first time ever, Baekhyun realized that his day had turned disastrous only halfway through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sleeping had always been Baekhyun’s best way to deal with things he wanted to ignore. It was much easier to act like something wasn’t real if you locked yourself up in your mind and jumped from dream to dream, each of them vivid and comfortable even up to the few seconds after he woke up disoriented after sleeping.

 

He liked sleeping and even if he wasn’t lucky enough to be able to sleep anywhere, whenever he wanted, it still wasn’t much of a rare happening for him to accidentally fall asleep in the middle of class. It was never much of bother, Baekhyun knew that whether he listened to his teachers' monotonous voices or not, his grades wouldn’t pick up and it never really bothered them either as he was at the back of the classroom most of the time and they barely even remembered his existence. Moreover, he hadn’t slept well last night, his father and his friends’ loud conversations as they watched a soccer match together kept him up late into the night and that was mostly why he had been so late that morning.

 

However, Baekhyun should’ve known. He should’ve known that if a day started badly, it only climbed higher in the disaster scale with each passing second. He should’ve learned. 

 

He was woken up from his peaceful slumber by a loud thump right next to his ear, startling hard enough to knock his knee against the underside of his desk as he straightened his back in a sharp movement and looked up, his wide, surprised eyes meeting his teacher’s narrowed, flamed ones.

 

"Did you enjoy your little nap, Mr. Byun?" her cold voice echoed in his head, brought up to a higher pitch than usual from the anger she seemingly was bursting with.

 

"I’m sorry," Baekhyun immediately apologized, glancing at the hand that she was still pressing on the desk, her other hand clenched around the book she was holding. Snickers. They were around him again. Always there. Mocking him. He ignored them. He focused on his teacher’s disappointed and angry gaze instead. He felt his throat clenching around his heart after it somehow jumped up there and formed a lump. "I’m so sorry, I was just—"

 

"Keep it, Mr. Byun," the angry woman cut him off, straightening her back but never once letting the flames of anger in her eyes dim down. "I’m sick of students like you who take school for granted!" she suddenly snapped, throwing her hands up in anger as she stepped away from his desk. Baekhyun could feel them. Eyes. On him. Snickers. Thrown at him. "I’m tired of students like you who come here, sit, sleep, eat, sit and sleep again before going home at the end of the day. Do you not realize how lucky you are to have teachers who give you so much time and try turning you into a decent person? Of course you don’t. People like you are a waste of time and don’t even deserve people like me _trying,"_ she kept ranting as she walked back to her own desk at the front of the classroom.

 

Baekhyun felt shame and anger sloshing in his chest and mixing in together with each word she pronounced. If her idea of helping students was screaming at them and telling them they were a waste of time, Baekhyun didn’t need her help. He bit down onto his tongue.

 

_Keep it in. Ignore it. Collect yourself. Ignore it._

 

He repeated those words in his head like a mantra. He repeated them. Twice. Three times. Until the teacher cleared her throat and asked a student from the front of the room to resume his reading of the text they were studying.

 

He sighed, his whole body relaxing now that the whole class wasn’t looking straight at him anymore. He left his head drop into his folded arms again and took a deep breath. He wouldn’t fall asleep. This was his last class. He could do it. He could survive through it and then go back home. He felt his stomach churning unpleasantly at that thought. It wasn’t a reassuring one.

 

He took yet another deep breath before willing himself to lift his head up and at least pretend that he was listening to whatever was happening. However, before he could sit up properly, he felt something light bumping against his head and he frowned, turning his head and looking up to see a small piece of crumpled paper laying right in front of his pencil case after it had bumped against his head. 

 

Something churned in his stomach. He knew what this was. He knew what would be inside. This wasn’t the first time. It was never the first time. Baekhyun felt like he was stuck in an endlessly disastrous cycle. He heard snickers behind him. His audience always participated in that cycle. 

 

_Keep it in. Ignore it. Ignore it. Ignore it._

 

He ignored it. He chose to look at the teacher instead, listening to her for a few seconds only to realize that he had no idea what she was talking about. He felt his leg moving, bouncing up and down under the desk. He glanced at the clock hung right above the blackboard. Only half an hour left before his day ended. Or at least, before this part of his day ended.

 

His gaze fell back down to the crumbled ball of paper. Ignore it. He had to ignore it. He knew what was inside. Nothing new.

 

But Baekhyun never learned and when his fingers reached for the small ball of paper, he wasn’t surprised with himself, not even disappointed. Or maybe he was so used to it that he couldn’t feel it anymore. 

 

His fingers fumbled with the crumpled ball until he unfolded it enough to be able to read the scrawny words traced inside in black ink. He read over it twice, his eyes taking in the words _fake nerd_ before he couldn’t help but snort. That was weaker than he had expected. He crumpled the piece of paper again before throwing it inside his pencil case. His ears picked up on snickers behind him and he did his best to ignore it just as much as he tried ignoring the tiny needle of pain piercing through his heart.

 

 _"He dresses and acts like a nerd but he doesn’t even have good grades. He’s a complete failure even at_ that _."_

 

He felt his fingers tightening around his pencil, his knuckles fading into white as his jaw tightened and he bit down on the words yearning to escape his mouth. He wasn’t a nerd. Baekhyun simply liked spending time in the library because only quiet people were usually there and no one bothered him. He wasn’t stupid either. He might’ve had to retake his freshman year but it hadn’t been because he was stupid. He had just spent weeks away from school after an accident and those weeks slowly turned into months after days where he was physically unable to leave his house and go to school.

 

_Ignore it. Ignore it. Ignore it._

 

Maybe things had started going downhill after that. Maybe becoming the classmate that was a year older but still had shitty grades was the source of his problems at school. He was a senior now, he would graduate at the end of the year while most students his age would be finishing off their first year in college already.

 

_"You think he knows how to actually use his brain?"_

 

_"I think his alcoholic father beat the brain out of him."_

 

Snickers. Louder. Loud enough for half of the classroom to hear everything. The flames burning in his cheeks and in his stomach remained silent. 

 

_Ignore it._

 

The teacher threw Taeyong and his friends a nasty glare but unsurprisingly remained silent, her reaction completely different from her outburst at Baekhyun only minutes ago. 

 

_Ignore it._

 

_Ignore it._

 

Baekhyun swallowed everything down and stuck his gaze to the clock, letting the slow, rhythmic movement of the hands numb his mind to anything else happening around him.

 

This was just another disastrous day that would eventually end before rewinding all over again tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The journey back home was as bad as the one to school, if not worse. Baekhyun had once again missed the bus and had no choice but to walk for yet another exhausting half an hour but this time, it wasn’t a result of sheer bad luck.

 

Through his years spent in high school, Baekhyun had learned that waiting for everyone to leave the school and then walk out of the gates himself once there were only a few people left behind wasn’t the best solution in order to avoid trouble. On the contrary, he had come to know that trouble would always be waiting for him at the gates and swarm him up as soon as he’d step foot outside. Therefore, he had made it a habit to get out of the school after his last class at the same time as everyone else, blending into the sea of students eager to leave the establishment.

 

It had always been a much better option, it was difficult to find someone you were looking for amongst so many people but once again, Baekhyun should’ve known not to expect much out of a disastrous day as the streak of trouble had went on without a single moment of mercy. It had been raining when he had stepped out of school, it still was now, and he had felt his first tingles of happiness of the day while remembering that despite having been late this morning, he hadn’t forgotten to grab an umbrella.

 

However, that had been short lived and the tingles of happiness had turned into unpleasant prickles of pain after Taeyong and his _circle_ , as the other liked to call it, managed to get their hands on him and stole his umbrella. Baekhyun had snapped and tried to fight back this time but it had been stupid of him. He never learned. It had earned him a bit of pain after Taeyong had snatched his umbrella away and used it to hit him in the stomach. 

 

Now, as he stood in front of his house’s door, fumbling with the keys, Baekhyun was not only suffering in the stomach but he was also entirely drenched and shivering from head to toe. When he finally managed to force the keys into the lock, his fingers shaking and numbed from the icy wind mockingly dancing around him, he quietly unlocked the door and slowly pushed it open. 

 

A slightly warmer puff of air embraced him instantly and he sighed in contentment, glad to be home for the first time in a while. It was never heated enough inside, he often suffered from a faulty heating system no one attended to but it seemed to work just fine today, warming the house up just enough for Baekhyun not to feel like complaining. He stepped in, closing the door behind as quietly as possible before looking around. 

 

He could hear voices probably coming out of the television which only meant that his father was in the living room like he always was, either deep asleep or wide awake and a slave to the alcohol constantly running through his veins. Baekhyun took a deep breath in. He had to walk through the living room in order to go to his room and he felt his heart deflecting at the thought, growing small and weak, trembling as it hid behind his ribcage. With a little of luck, his father would either be asleep or ignore him. Today had been one of the worst days of the week but Baekhyun still had a small amount of hope because he never learned.

 

Quietly, he let his socked feet slide over the floor as he walked towards the living room, keeping his gaze straight ahead of him as soon as he stepped inside, the characteristic, bitter scent of beer instantly jumping up to his nose and forcing its way in. 

 

_Ignore it. Keep going. Ignore it._

 

Heart lodged somewhere in his throat, beating erratically as if it wanted to force him to run right back out of the door, Baekhyun slowly advanced through the living room, keeping his eyes stuck to the hallway that would lead to his room. He heard rustling to his right, the old leather couch his father always laid on grunting under the weight of the man who moved on it. He had to keep going; he had to ignore it. He had to reach his room. He fastened his pace a little but one of his feet slid against the floor, his drenched socks betraying him and causing him to quickly catch himself by throwing his hand against the wall for support.

 

He remained frozen, heart beating quickly enough for him to almost feel nauseous as he listened to the couch grunting a little more before the sound was drowned by a deeper, human grunt. He closed his eyes.

 

"D’you cook?"

 

His father’s low, raspy voice arose in the room, not startling him as he had been expecting it but spreading unpleasant shivers down his spine. It almost felt like his voice had materialized into a tiny monster that dragged its claws down the bumps on Baekhyun’s back, scratching the skin off and stealing part of his soul away. 

 

"What?" Baekhyun mumbled because while the voice was unpleasant, it hadn’t been loud enough for him to properly decipher his father’s drunken slurs. 

 

He kept a hand against the wall, gripping it tightly as if that would keep him on his two feet, as if he needed the support. Or maybe he was simply trying to prevent the wall from closing in on him. That was the only possible explanation as to why he felt suffocated.

 

He heard the couch grunting again and when he chanced a glance towards it, he saw that his father was sitting up, looking right at him through the haze in his gaze. He felt himself inching closer to the wall. His clothes stuck to his skin. It was cold, the contrast even more noticeable against the warm air blowing through the whole house. He wanted to sleep. 

 

"Are ya deaf or stupid?" his father snapped, startling him enough for his damp hand to slide down the wall a little. He cursed himself. Fear made things worse. Ignore it. ignore it. ignore him. He wanted to sleep. "I asked if ya cooked," the man repeated, not slurring less but Baekhyun managed to understand him this time.

 

And he felt the same unpleasant tingles pooling in his stomach, seemingly enough for him to look away and clench his fists tightly. 

 

A normal family would prepare the meal for a child coming back from school. A normal family wouldn’t treat their child this way. A normal family would be composed of two parents. A normal family had never been something much more than a fantasy to Baekhyun.

 

"I just came back from school a second ago," he mumbled, one half of him fed up with everything while the other half hoped that his voice had been low enough for his father not to catch his words.

 

However, Baekhyun never learned. Happiness dimmed down. Disasters and bad luck only kept heightening until you grew tired of measuring them.

 

"So what?" he heard, his father’s voice gaining in volume. He glanced at him. His features were now distorted, his eyebrows furrowed, his nose scrunched in distaste, and his lips curled into an angry line. Baekhyun hated looking at him when he was like this. He looked like a monster. The same he often encounter in his sleep at night. "You think you’re some shit ‘cause you going to high school?" he screamed and Baekhyun froze, heart pumping fear into his veins with every erratic beat. He shouldn’t move. He should wait. He should’ve kept his mouth shut. "You’re not even gonna take care of your dad now? I fucking raised you, you little shit." _Ignore it._ "I could’ve left you die like your mother did but no, I raised you and wasted food on you and now you can’t even cook for your father?" _Ignore him._ "You fucking ruined my life every fucking day, you fucker. And now you’re useless."

 

_Ignore him. Ignore him. Ignore him._

 

Baekhyun kept chanting it in his head, that same voice screaming those words in his head louder to match the volume of his father’s voice as it grew. He had heard those words before, so many times. And yet, he couldn’t help but feel that pang of pain hitting his heart like a drum. 

 

And Baekhyun never learned. He never learned and he let his guard down and when he looked towards his father again, his eyes widened as he finally noticed the empty glass flying towards him. In a sharp and sudden movement, he threw himself forward, miraculously avoiding the glass that shattered against the wall right where he stood just a second ago. He ran towards his room, went in, and closed the door behind him, his shaky fingers fumbling with the lock until he heard the only mildly comforting click indicating him that he should be safe.

 

He was never safe, however, and Baekhyun kept his back pressed against the door, chest heaving up and down with fear as he listened to whatever was happening on the other side of the door. He could still hear his father grumbling and mumbling to himself but only when a whole minute passed without footsteps angrily approaching his door did Baekhyun take a deep breath and allowed himself to relax. If his father didn’t run after him in the span of the minute following their argument, then he was going to be left alone for the night, the man returning to his drinking and watching the television for a few hours before passing out and snoring for the whole night.

 

This had definitely been a disastrous day but now that he was locked in his bedroom, Baekhyun could almost certainly say that it had ended. 

 

He almost felt the urge to laugh at the way he considered his day to be a multi-leveled game he had to survive through until the very last stage in order to win and jump to the next level. This wasn’t a game though. Baekhyun didn’t find any kind of positive approach to his life. A father throwing a glass of whiskey at his son with the intent to hurt him under the effect of alcohol was under no circumstance a game.

 

This was nothing but Baekhyun’s daily life. This was nothing but a normal day and somehow, he couldn’t help but feel yet another urge to laugh when the thought that this wasn’t even his worst day ever hit him. At least, the glass hadn’t hit him like the plate his father had thrown at him only a few weeks ago, he still had the scar on his arm.

 

This was okay. He had survived through this and finally, he looked around his room, gaze sliding towards the window that painted the image of a slowly darkening sky. It was late. He wanted to sleep. He was hungry, he could almost feel his stomach contracting from the lack of food throughout the whole day but there was no way Baekhyun would get out of his room and risk angering his father just because he was hungry. He could survive a day without eating enough. He needed to sleep.

 

However, he also needed to shower first because if he stayed in those wet, cold clothes then he’d probably get sick and that was the last thing he needed right now so with a sigh, he let his bag quietly drop on the floor. He prepared a fresh set of pajamas and listened to what his father was doing for a few more seconds before finally heading towards the bathroom once he was sure that he wouldn’t be disturbed.

 

It didn’t take him too long to shower, he couldn’t spend too much time under the warm water as he knew it would run out sooner than expected and he’d be left to finish washing up with cold water instead. He scrubbed the exhaustion and the pain off his tender skin, almost scratching his scalp off as he washed his hair, before rinsing everything off and getting out to step back into his room.

 

He shivered at the contrast between the warm water he had just left and the cooler air inside his bedroom, quickly dressing up and rubbing a towel against his hair to soak the water up. Running his fingers through his mop of dark hair that was starting to grow too long, Baekhyun finally dropped on his bed, laying down and resting his head against his almost flat pillow. It sometimes hurt his neck through the night and it was left sore in the morning but Baekhyun would’t complain. His bed was still comfortable enough and as he laid there, looking up to the ceiling he couldn’t even actually see anymore because of the lack of light, he let out a sigh.

 

Night had fallen over the city now and the day had ended. Baekhyun was a little proud of himself for surviving yet another horrible day. It was silent in the room, he couldn’t hear anything but the beating of his own heart and his slow breathing but when he sharpened his ears, he could discern the light snores coming from the living room. The wind rustled the leaves from the tree planted right under his window, mixing in with the hurried sound of cars whooshing past the road in front of the house. It was silent. 

 

Everything around him was still and in that exact moment, it felt like Baekhyun was in another world. Sometimes it felt like he stepped into his own silent, peaceful world as soon as he locked his door and no one came angrily banging at it. He could almost see Silence creeping all over the room and drowning everything else out. The day had ended. 

 

Or maybe not, Baekhyun’s day never ended without his little rituals. He always dropped his bag right next to the door after entering his bedroom, he always showered as soon as he knew it was safe to do so, and he always dropped on his bed after getting dressed. Only one thing left to do before his day properly ended.

 

He took a deep breath in and slowly sat up, the muscles in his stomach contracting too hard and a few crumbles of pain lingering where he had been hit with his own umbrella that he probably would never get his hands on ever again. He closed his eyes, sitting cross-legged in the middle of his small bed as he brought his hands together, lacing his fingers and bringing them up, closer to his face. He took another deep breath in and like every single night since he learned how to speak, Baekhyun prayed.

 

"If there’s anyone up there able to hear me, please listen," he started, voice falling into nothing but a whisper, quiet enough to get lost amongst the ghostly whisper of the leaves rustling outside. 

 

It was a habit to pray out loud since he was little and he believed that no one would hear him if he spoke inside his own head. It was a stupid habit but Baekhyun never broke out of his habits, no matter how stupid they were. He took another deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut tighter, shivers running down his spine as if someone was blowing on the wet skin of his nape. The window didn’t close properly, there was always wind seeping into the room, whistling in the nights where it was especially stormy. 

 

"I’m not asking for much," he continued, still whispering. "I’m aware that it could be worse, I could be in the streets, I could be starved, I could be in a much worse state even if right now, I don’t think I’d choose this life over anything else, no matter how bad it would be. But would it be too much to ask you to take me away?" He stopped, letting out an almost self-deprecating chuckle. Everyday, he repeated those words. It had been going on for years and every single time, Baekhyun found it even more stupid. However, at this point, this seemed like the only solution. 

 

"You could just send someone. You could send me my mother. If she’s still alive," he mumbled as an afterthought before taking a deep breath and shaking his head. "Anyone. Anyone able to help me. I just— I just don’t want to do this anymore. I can’t do this anymore," he choked out, throat tightening around his last word.

 

A whistle tickled his ears and Baekhyun’s eyes snapped open, gaze trailing to the window. It looked like there would be a storm tonight, stars were hiding under a fluffy but threatening coat of dark grey. He let his hands drop on his lap.

 

This was stupid. Why was he praying for someone to get him out of here? It was pathetic and stupid and completely useless and yet, Baekhyun knew he would do it again on the next day, and the one after, and the one following too. He would keep doing it for the rest of his life. Why? Maybe it was because the only memory he had left of his mother was a blurry face smiling at him and telling him to pray every night, that he was never alone, and that someone up there would always be there to listen to him on his hardest days.

 

Although, maybe it was stupid of Baekhyun to believe the words of a mother who had left him with a monster as soon as he had learned how to properly align an intelligible sentence. But Baekhyun never learned and it didn’t matter. He never really expected anyone to suddenly come in and save him, he was eighteen and old enough to know dreams didn’t come true. And yet, he wouldn’t skip this step of his daily rituals tomorrow.

 

This was stupid. He sighed, letting his gaze trail around. Shadows were drawn on his door in the shape of the tree outside, he couldn’t make out anything but the trunk and a few low branches. The wind whistled harder and Baekhyun shivered, curling up on himself by bringing his legs up against his chest, still settled in the middle of his bed. He was tired. He wanted to sleep but the shower had taken the drowsiness away from him and he knew that it would take him a long time to fall asleep if he lied down now.

 

A car whooshed by outside, he heard his father coughing loudly for a few seconds before the snoring resumed. He could read a comic book. He had plenty of those. He could read about super heroes and monsters and adventures and happy endings. The wind whistled loudly as if in disapproval. He let his gaze slide up to his school bag. Maybe he should do his homework instead, his grades wouldn’t pick up on their own if he didn’t even _try._ It would also make him feel a bit better after everything his teacher had said to him earlier in the day.

 

After making his mind up, Baekhyun shifted to get off the bed with yet another tired sigh. The floor felt cold under his feet, shivers creeping down his spine as he waited a few seconds for the sensation to fade, wishing he had put socks on. However, he was tired and Baekhyun wished for a lot of things, none of them ever came true.

 

He stretched his arms over his head, letting out a soft grunt before finally pushing himself up to stand on his feet instead. The wind whistled, he looked towards the window over his shoulder. It had started raining again, droplets of polluted water crashing against his window and letting out small thumps of pain. He hoped it wouldn’t rain tomorrow. He should wake up earlier. He should eat before leaving, just in case. He should do his homework.

 

Moving his tired body, he took a step forward but as soon as his feet lifted off the ground, he felt something locking around his ankle and holding him back, cold spreading on his skin all at once. With a startled gasp, Baekhyun looked down, his eyes widening when he caught sight of long, black _claws_ and _blue_ skin. Before he could realize that the hand seemed to have materialized from under his bed, it suddenly pulled and his whole balance crumbled before he found himself crashing on the floor for the second time that day although this time, he let out a small scream of fear.

 

It spread through him like the cold water from the shower, freezing him for a second before Baekhyun realized that the hand kept pulling at his ankle and he was sliding down the floor towards his bed. Horror instantly filled him up and the wind whistled again but it wasn’t louder than Baekhyun’s scream of terror as his hands fumbled around, trying to hold onto something to keep him in place.

 

There was nothing around, however, and Baekhyun felt himself sliding, his nails scratching against the floor as he tried getting a grip on it to stay in place. It didn’t work, he tried kicking whatever was holding onto his ankle but it only tightening his hold around his ankle and he felt something sharp digging into his skin. Pain spread through him, scratching at the skin of his ankle like those long black claws and Baekhyun trashed around, trying to free himself, screaming, calling for help but the wind was whistling and suddenly it didn’t feel like the wind anymore. 

 

It didn’t feel like the wind from outside, at least, because all of a sudden a strong breeze ruffled Baekhyun’s hair and it came from behind him, sucking him in, but at the same time he felt it in front of him, pushing him further under his own bed until half of his body was already engulfed. He  squirmed harder, trying to grab onto his bed’s foot but whatever was holding onto him was strong enough for his sweaty skin to slide right against the metal before he bumped his head against the bed above him in a last desperate attempt to free himself.

 

It didn’t work, however, and suddenly, there was wind everywhere, wind all around him, in his clothes, in his hair, against his face, pushing into his nose and his mouth and clogging his throat and rendering him unable to breathe. Breathing was the least of his concerns at the moment, though, he couldn’t do anything but feel himself falling down, down, down as if he had been thrown, or rather _pulled,_ into a deep, endless hole. Nothing was holding onto him anymore, he was free falling and he would probably crash against the ground and he would split his head open and he would probably die and his body would be found under his own bed.

 

However, none of that happened. 

 

Suddenly, everything stopped when he felt himself crashing against the hard, cold ground. Pain shot up through his arm, his own weight crushing the limb as he fell on it before the pain from where he bumped his head hard on the ground overthrew it and reigned over his whole body instead.

 

His eyes remained shut tight, stuck together from the tears pulled out of him by the strong wind from earlier, and he heard a small grunt. It took him a second to realize that it came from his own mouth. At first, everything was silent except for the same constant whistling he always heard at night when it was stormy outside and if not for the pain shooting through his body and the fear his heart was still trying to escape from by continuously crashing against his ribcage, he would’ve almost thought that he was still in his own bedroom.

 

Then, he heard footsteps and he curled in on himself before forcing himself to open his eyes. The whistling ended then, so suddenly, as if someone had finally managed to close the window in his room but as soon as the blur in his eyes faded away, Baekhyun knew he wasn’t in his bedroom anymore.

 

He wasn’t in his bedroom because the shadows on his door weren’t what greeted him when he opened his eyes. Instead, he was met with big, glowing red eyes, vibrant blue skin, big, torn-looking ears peeking from under dirty silver hair, and a wide, sharp-teethed grin. 

 

This time, Baekhyun instantly knew that the shrill, loud scream suddenly piercing through the silence had escaped his own mouth.


	2. Chapter One

The first thing that Baekhyun heard was the pounding of what could only be his own heart against his temples, the rhythm steady, fast, calculated, and strong like the beat of a drum foreshadowing a tale that would haunt him even in his most peaceful slumbers. Then, he felt something hard and dry prickling against his cheek and soon, the harsh beating of his heart against his temples heightened, loudening and strengthening until the pain became too much and his eyes suddenly snapped open, like light spreading through a room in the blink of an eye as soon as you pressed a finger against the switch.

 

It was silent. That was the first thing that Baekhyun noticed as soon as he looked in front of him and it was odd. Silence wasn’t something you could see with your eyes. Silence was a sound, it was the loud lack of any noise. Silence was a sound and yet, Baekhyun thought that if he ever had to describe silence, what was spread in front of his eyes would be the first image materializing in his head. 

 

Or maybe what he was seeing would be closer to his image of what panic looked like because as soon as he realized where he was exactly, Baekhyun’s eyes widened and his heart jumped against his ribcage continuously, like a frightened animal trying to free itself from the confine of its cage and the danger it locked him inside of. Or an animal that was at the very least decided to die trying. He lifted his head, only a little confused to realize that he had been laying on the ground when his eyes took in the barely visible shadows he could make out in the darkness surrounding him.

 

All around him were planted long, thick stones. Some of them seemed to be crooked, some of them seemed to have been sliced into two by a sharp blade that definitely shouldn’t have been able to cut stone so cleanly, and others seemed to have been punched and kicked until small pieces crumbled apart from the erect stones. It was silent. 

 

He could almost see silence dancing around like a madman amongst a sea of rotting corpse. He could almost see it, peeking at him behind each and every tombstone that oddly seemed to be turned towards him, as if they had eyes and were staring straight into his soul. He could feel it crawling up his throbbing arm, sliding along his shoulder, crawling down his nape before finally throwing itself down his spine, planting all kinds of shivers on its path.

 

It was too silent and he was sitting in the middle of a graveyard and he could almost _feel_ shadows moving around and he could even make out tiny white fluorescent dots crawling through green and rusty-looking mold on every single one of the tombstones in front of him and he could even feel those same dots flying around like thick particles of dust that had been somehow dumped into a pot of fluorescent paint.

 

It was silent and Baekhyun’s hands fumbled around, slipping on the dry ground in his haste to sit up properly while trying to figure out how exactly he had ended up in a graveyard that seemed to be infested with an abnormally abundant amount of fireflies. It was silent and suddenly, he couldn’t even hear his own heart beat because there were so many fireflies around and it was so silent and he was in a graveyard in the middle of the night.

 

How had he ended up here? Why was his arm in pain as if he had fallen and crushed it under the weight of the rest of his body? Why was his head hurting? He brought a trembling hand up, fingers sliding along the back of his head slowly, as if something could even surge out of his own hair and bite his fingers. And he did feel a biting pain spread through his whole head in the next second, as soon as his fingertips trailed over a rather big bump on his scalp. Almost as if he had knocked his head against something.

 

He didn’t remember though. Baekhyun didn’t remember how he had ended up here and it was difficult to breathe, he could barely move his body around. It wasn’t cold per se but it was windy and he was wearing nothing but his pajamas, the breeze easily seeping under the thin layer of clothing.

 

Suddenly, the silence was finally broken when his ears caught on what sounded like someone clearing their throats behind him and with a startle, he immediately whipped his body around.

 

Everything faded to black for a few seconds, his head pounding a bit, slowly but strongly, before Baekhyun blinked a few times and the darkness faded away bit by bit. However, maybe being trapped in the dark would’ve been better than seeing _what_ was standing right in front of him, a few feet away.

 

The first thing he noticed was the _blue._ It wasn’t just a stain, it wasn’t just a few drops on some patches of skin, it was his own eyes playing with his mind since Baekhyun blinked quite a few times but the blue never faded away even for a single second. The _thing_ standing in front of him was entirely blue, the color spread over the skin smoothly as if it was natural, as if it had been born with it and hadn’t just spent hours painting its face with a brush. It was an odd blue, it was lighter than the color of the sky at dusk when the sun was slowly setting but it was also much darker than a clear summer sky too. It almost seemed to glow, healthy yet cold at the same time.

 

It wasn’t entirely smooth, however, and Baekhyun’s heart once again jumped in his chest when his eyes caught on the reason why the skin seemed to gleam here and there. He narrowed his eyes a little bit, it was dark around but not too dark either and when he managed to make out what looked like scales near the _thing_ ’s eyes, his jaw seemed to hit the ground painfully. 

 

Or maybe it was because his head still hurt a bit. Maybe he had a concussion. Maybe this was a hallucination because the blue-skinned being in front of him looked completely human if not for the blue skin and the scales that were of a lighter color, almost green but somehow blending in perfectly with the skin, gleaming a little bit. It almost formed a swirl on the right side of the _thing’s_ face, spread over the apple of its cheek, the line ending on the temple. A few more scales were scattered around, on the forehead, peeking under strands of greasy silver hair, on the jawline, and everything was blue and almost green and unnatural but nothing came close to those eyes.

 

Baekhyun felt something slicing through his heart as soon as he met those eyes and he swore he could hear his heart letting out a horrified wail when he realized how empty and _lifeless_ they were. They were red. Red and almost glowing in the dark, throwing the whole blueness on the skin off-balance. It was almost like those red eyes Baekhyun always saw and snorted at in all those horror movies he had watched throughout his whole life. The only difference was that now, Baekhyun felt like one of the stupid main characters of those movies because when the _thing_ took a step forward, instead of getting up and running away, he simply scrambled away, dragging himself on the ground, his tender palms scratched as they slid off since he never once looked away from the being that had now frozen after that one step forward.

 

His wide eyes never left the _thing_ , the _person,_ because surely this was a _person_. This was all make up. That was just a costume. Baekhyun didn’t know why, he didn’t know how, he didn’t know where he was and how he had ended up there but surely, this was just a costume and paint and makeup and nothing he had to be scared of because this wasn’t real and in the worst case,  this could be nothing but a nightmare whose main character was a horrifyingly blue monster.

 

However, he heard a _snort_ before his wide eyes took in the way those light blue, pale lips curved into a wide, wide smile that revealed sharp, claw-like teeth and in the back of his head, a voice whispered to Baekhyun that this couldn’t possibly be just a nightmare. In front of him stood a _monster_ with blue skin, scales, sharp teeth and even sharper black claws that almost glinted when _it_ moved its hands and Baekhyun shook his head, fear spreading through him like millions of tiny ants crawling over his whole body.

 

He pushed himself back, trying to crawl away again, but before he could even move a single inch away, he found himself freezing when the silence was unexpectedly broken by a human voice.

 

"Come on, that’s no way to treat your Prince Charming," a low, warm voice uttered and despite Baekhyun’s eyes never once straying away from the way those light blue lips moved to form those words, it still took him a second to realize that the _monster_ had just spoken.

 

But that didn’t make sense. Monsters didn’t speak. Monsters also didn’t look so _human_. But humans also didn’t have blue skin and red eyes and silver hair and black sharp claws. Baekhyun didn’t know. He didn’t know where he was, how he had gotten here. His wide eyes swept over the being in front of him for what felt like the hundredth time. He was wearing black clothes. _It_. _He_. Baekhyun didn’t know. His gaze focused on the black claws, the blue fingers, and suddenly, the image of those claws digging into the skin of his ankle painfully flashed into his mind. He blinked. He could almost still feel those strong fingers wrapped around his ankle and pulling, and pulling, and pulling until he was dragged under his bed and then down some kind of hole.

 

He blinked. His head hurt. The bump. The pain on his arm. He had fallen and lost consciousness. it made sense. It was the only thing that made sense amongst everything and Baekhyun felt something heavy pushing against his chest and crushing his lungs, rendering him unable to breathe. Confusion. He didn’t understand. He never looked away from the blue monster. The blue human? He didn’t know.

 

It _rolled_ its eyes.

 

"What? Did I take your breath away with my beauty?" he spoke again, voice still as low but this time, it had an odd lilt to it. Like a whistle. Like the whispers carried through the wind during summer. Or winter. Blue was a cold color. It sounded like cold, icy, empty amusement. Just like inside those red eyes. "That hadn’t happened in a long time, I’m glad I still got it in me."

 

And it didn’t make sense. There was a monster in front of him. That monster was speaking. It was speaking and praising itself and Baekhyun wasn’t even sure whether that was sarcasm or sincere words but either way, a monster shouldn’t be able to be neither sincere nor sarcastic. 

 

He was losing his mind. He was losing his mind and he needed answers so he spoke.

 

"How do you speak?" was the only stupid question that could leave his mouth but at least, Baekhyun was proud of himself when his voice only trembled slightly and he didn’t stutter.

 

He watched as the monster crossed his arms over his black, dirtied hoodie that seemed to be worn out, a few holes around the arms and the chest letting patches of blue skin peek at whoever would take a look. The same holes were visible on his equally as black skinny jeans, the fabric torn at the knees and a bit on the thighs as well, though that looked almost like it was a wanted feature of the piece of clothing.

 

Baekhyun shook his head. _Its_ arms. _Its_ back hoodie. _Its_ knees. It was so difficult to address this being as a monster when he looked so human. 

 

"You didn’t take me for some kind of lifeless artwork, did you?" the blue being questioned and Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. It was at that moment that he settled on addressing the other as a human being. It made everything a little more bearable. "Guess you really did think I was your Prince Charming, how adorable of you," he continued and what might have been taken as a compliment sounded more like a mockery when said with those empty eyes and that flat tone.

 

And Baekhyun really didn’t understand why this person — because surely this was a _person_ — kept addressing himself as a Prince Charming but it was the least of his concerns at the moment. He shook his head, throwing a glance around, at the tombstones, the bare trees, and the glowing bugs flying around.

 

"Where am I?" he heaved out through the knot in his throat, gaze snapping back to the monster and barely even taking in the frown on his blue features. "What—What am I doing here? How did I get here?" he questioned, voice gradually gaining volume as his gaze kept jumping around. 

 

There were shadows around. He couldn’t be imagining it. This couldn’t be nightmare, it couldn’t be. Panic slowly whispered in his head, crawling towards the center of his mind, its screeches gradually turning louder and higher and drowning out anything else around Baekhyun who could barely see anything, gaze never lingering on a single spot long enough to actually register what he was looking at. 

 

He couldn’t breathe. He didn’t know where he was. He couldn’t hear.

 

"Calm down," a low voice finally seeped into his head through the panic and everything else, pulling him out of the storm of feelings Baekhyun had locked himself into.

 

Suddenly, he felt something colder than the panic reigning over his whole being touching his shoulder and when his gaze snapped straight in front of him, his eyes widened as they met big red eyes. The monster was crouching right in front of him, touching his shoulder, looking into his eyes, and Baekhyun hadn’t even noticed him walking closer but this time, he couldn’t keep in the small frightened sound that escaped his lips while his whole body flinched hard. He scrambled to pull himself out of the other’s reach, breathless.

 

His hand had felt frozen even through the thin fabric of Baekhyun’s pajamas. It had been like touching a snowflake, maybe a spike of ice, or maybe a corpse. He wasn’t sure but as he watched the monster frown a bit, his eyes filling with an emotion that disappeared before Baekhyun could decipher it, he could still feel his skin burning where the other had touched him. The monster stood up on his feet and took a step back, putting more distance between them.

 

From a closer distance, Baekhyun’s wide eyes picked up on a few more details on the other’s face. The scales were indeed an almost greenish blue color and there was a long, nasty scar running down one of his red eyes. It almost looked like someone, or rather something, had continuously scratched over the eye, a long, thick dark grey line running all the way down from the monster’s eyebrow to the apple of his cheek. He blinked and Baekhyun notices that it was covering his eyelid as well. 

 

Overall, the being standing in front of him was horrifying but somehow, the scars and the blue skin weren’t the source of the fear running through Baekhyun’s veins like a stream made out of boulders of ice. The only horrifying thing about this was how _human_ the other looked despite everything.

 

A few seconds passed in silence, Baekhyun’s eyes never leaving the other’s the same way the latter kept looking at him with a frown. He didn’t look angry though. Baekhyun didn’t know why he was frowning but he hadn’t gotten an answer so he repeated his question with a stronger, less trembly voice.

 

"Where am I?"

 

That seemed to finally wake the other up because instantly, the frown was wiped away by another wide, sharp-teethed grin and this time, Baekhyun didn’t flinch. He almost looked like a character from a video game and maybe Baekhyun was crazy but he had always liked horror movies and scary video games so he focused on that thought to calm himself down.

 

"You’re in the Cave," the other finally replied, back to that half-amused, half-cocky tone. Baekhyun frowned in confusion but felt his stomach dropping to his knees. "Kingdom of Monsters, marvelous Land of Horrors, and beautiful Empire of Ugliness. Unfortunately, it isn’t under the rule of your favorite Prince Charming but I hope you’ll enjoy your stay here," the other continued, Baekhyun watching almost blankly as he pat his own chest while speaking. 

 

He held his chin high, his shoulders broad, and his smile even broader as he confidently introduced dubious and downright scary names to Baekhyun. Suddenly, the other almost didn’t seem as scary as he did before he had started speaking. He almost, _almost,_ sounded like a normal human being carrying confidence and amusement around wherever he went. 

 

And Baekhyun, still very much scared and confused, parted his lips to ask the first question that popped in his mind since the other didn’t seem to plan on eating him or killing him or hurting him for now. He needed answers. He could barely register anything the other said, surprise and confusion still way too prominent for him to attempt focusing on anything else.

 

"Why do you keep addressing yourself as a Prince Charming?" was the only question that left his lips and as soon as it did, Baekhyun inwardly cursed himself.

 

However, the other seemed amused by that question, his wide smile revealing more of his sharp teeth. Baekhyun unconsciously flinched at the sight, his stomach churning a little bit. As soon as he told himself that the other looked rather human, his own thoughts were scattered away by a tiny detail that ignited a new cold flame of fear deep in his chest.

 

"Well, you’re the one who’s been praying for someone to save you for a while now. You’ve been asking for a hero to take you away and I did, which means I’m your hero, your savior, or your Prince Charming, whichever you prefer," the other shrugged and this whole conversation was nonsensical, Baekhyun felt like laughing but refrained from doing so. He already felt like a mad person, laughing would only make him feel crazier. "Chanyeol could work too if you’re too shy. That’s my name," the other added as if in afterthought and Baekhyun almost choked. 

 

It was in that moment that the other’s first words finally registered into his head.

 

"Wait—" he breathed out, finally moving to stand up on his still wobbly legs. The other, _Chanyeol,_ was much taller than him even like this. Baekhyun kept the distance between them, looking him over once again. The fact that he finally had a name to address him as much made him realer, more normal, and yet, Baekhyun still had to ask. "You’re a monster?"

 

The other simply looked at him for a few blank seconds during which Baekhyun suddenly felt like running away. However, every character than ran in every horror movies he’d watched until now always ended up stupidly tripping and falling only to end up either killed or devoured by a monster. Baekhyun had never been a fast runner.

 

"I mean," the other broke the silence after a few seconds, raising an eyebrow and looking at Baekhyun as if he was either really stupid or really crazy. "Are you blind?"

 

And that was the last straw. 

 

That was the only thing Baekhyun needed to hear before he felt something in him snapping and suddenly, laughter flew out of his mouth like birds eager to take flights after days of captivity. Or maybe birds fleeing a forest crawling with dangerous and lethal animals waiting to catch their thin necks between their sharp teeth and claws. Either way, Baekhyun’s laugh was loud, echoing around him with madness for a few seconds during which even his heart seemed to take fright and tried escaping the confines of his ribcage.

 

After a few seconds, he abruptly stopped laughing and started shaking his head instead, fast, sharply, enough to feel the slightest bit dizzy and nauseous. Or maybe he felt nauseous because those red eyes were still looking straight at him under strands of silver hair. He shook his head harder, looking around, twirling around himself as if he could somehow catch sight of something that would betray this whole set up and indicate him that none of this was real. 

 

"I’m crazy," he suddenly said, whispering those words to himself. "I’ve lost my mind," he continued, nodding to himself. He caught the _monster’s_ gaze, finding nothing but a blank canvas there. It was a cold, lifeless gaze despite the red color of it breathing life into the blue and black  shades covering him whole. 

 

"You’re not crazy, Baekhyun," the other suddenly said and Baekhyun didn’t even have it in himself to question how the other knew his name. He almost couldn’t ask any question because at this point, Chanyeol almost sounded exasperated. _Chanyeol_. The blue monster now had a name. "You’re not in the real word anymore, you’re in the land of monsters and freaks. Though, since you’re the only human here, I guess that makes you the freak now," the other hummed, bringing a hand up to gently tap a finger against his chin as if he was in deep thought.

 

His eyes finally sparkled with amusement again, however, and Baekhyun was starting to actually feel his grip on his mind loosening. His knees were still wobbly and he felt like he could fall at any second now.

 

Then, a thought popped up in his head, blindingly bright, enough for him to frown at the other and point an accusing finger at him. 

 

"You brought me here," he said, voice still trembling but this time, with notes of anger rather than fear.

 

Even if all of this was real, it didn’t explain why Baekhyun was here. Even if this place was the _Cave_ and he was in a land of monsters and freaks, there was no reason for him to actually be here. The other had dragged him here. Literally. He could feel anger boiling in his chest, soothing his heart a little bit but sending his thoughts haywire at the same time. 

 

"I did, as you asked," the other merely shrugged. "I thought we established that already."

 

There was no way this was real. There was no way anyone could talk about a world of monsters with such casualty while standing in the middle of a graveyard at night with blue skin and red eyes and silver hair and black sharp claws.

 

There was no way this was real.

 

"There’s no way this is real," Baekhyun repeated, this time out loud while shaking his head. "I don’t believe you. This isn’t real. This is just a prank. This can’t be real. You’re just—" he cut himself off, looking at the other while wildly gesturing towards him with his hands. He probably looked like a madman and he certainly felt like one. "You’re just wearing a costume and this is a normal graveyard. That’s all."

 

The other snorted. Baekhyun felt familiar prickles of shame biting through his whole body, the same ones he had felt earlier that day when he had been the focus of every single pair of eyes occupying the lunchroom. This wasn’t a joke. He was losing his mind and this wasn’t a joke at all. 

 

Before he could even attempt to say something to the other, Chanyeol spoke again and this time, his voice was only a little softer.

 

"If this is a prank, then why are you so scared?"

 

Baekhyun was scared a lot of things. He had never tried understand why he felt that way towards certain things. He wouldn’t start today.

 

"Because—" he stammered, "Because this looks real. Too real. But it isn’t," he repeated, like a child continuously telling himself that the monster under his bed didn’t exist every single night before going to sleep.

 

However, Baekhyun wasn’t sure what he was supposed to believe in either.

 

Chanyeol smiled, the red of his eyes brightening a little bit, his pristine teeth almost glowing in the darkness surrounding him. The glowing dots flying around almost formed a halo on top of his silver hair, reflecting on the strands for a second before flying away.

 

"Let’s give you a tour and then you can decide whether the Cave is real or not," was the only thing he said before walking closer to Baekhyun.

 

The latter instantly shrunk into himself, his heart jumping against his ribcage with the fear brought on by the possibility of having angered a monster that looked strong enough to crush his head with only one hand.

 

However, Chanyeol simply walked past him silently, still with the same amused smile and Baekhyun followed him with his gaze, watching in confusion as the monster walked away without even glancing back at him. He was leaving Baekhyun alone in the middle of the night in a  graveyard situated in a place called the Cave, a place full of monsters according to Chanyeol.

 

The first thought that lighted up in Baekhyun’s head after a few seconds of watching Chanyeol slowly walk away was that this was his chance. If Chanyeol was a psychopath, a serial killer, or just some crazy person, this would be his chance to run away and attempt finding his way back home.

 

However, Baekhyun had never been brave. Baekhyun never learned. He never learned and as soon as he caught some movement in the grave only a few inches away from where he was standing, he gasped, wide eyes blinking continuously in an attempt to erase the image of rotten fingers slowly piercing through the soil.

 

Baekhyun never learned and because he never learned, he found himself instantly running towards the only being responsible for his sudden landing in an unfamiliar world seemingly full of horrors he wasn’t supposed to find himself amongst. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For what Baekhyun supposed was a few minutes, they walked in silence. It wasn’t really something to complain about, Baekhyun had enough voices whispering, muttering, or screaming in his head and he already had a hard time sorting his thoughts out without Chanyeol adding to it. 

 

While struggling to catch up to the monster who didn’t seem to mind the fact that Baekhyun’s legs were much shorter and slower than his, he allowed himself to get lost in his thoughts more than in his surroundings. There wasn’t much to see anyway, they were walking through an empty, straight path ever since they had walked past the gates of the graveyard.

 

At this point, he didn’t exactly trust Chanyeol and he made sure to keep some kind of distance between them as they walked, even if he also never strayed too far away from the other because as scary as Chanyeol still was, if his words about monsters being everywhere were real, Baekhyun didn’t fancy the idea of getting lost and ending up somewhere unfamiliar on his own. With Chanyeol, Baekhyun would at least not get lost unwillingly and if anything were to happen, he would always be able to blame Chanyeol rather than himself. It would make him feel a bit better.

 

Though, Baekhyun wasn’t even sure whether what the other was saying was true or not. He did remember very vividly being dragged under his bed by Chanyeol’s own hands but that couldn’t really prove anything, could it? It could’ve been a nightmare. He did fall unconscious after bumping his head somewhere and it could’ve just been a nightmare rather than a memory. Moreover, despite the path they were walking on being unfamiliar, Baekhyun didn’t really see anyone else but the two of them around. If this was a world full of monsters, he would’ve surely seen something horrifying by now. The fingers he had _thought_ he had seen in the graveyard a few minutes ago could’ve also been some plants’ roots or just his imagination.

 

Moreover, Chanyeol didn’t really look like a monster. Now that he was a bit used to the other’s presence, he certainly didn’t look as horrifying as he first did even if Baekhyun still couldn’t fully look at him for more than a few seconds. He looked human, with just a few blemishes on his skin, including the scales, the scar, and the blue skin tone. The rest of his features were human, his eyes, his nose, even his lips as long as he didn’t smile and reveal his sharp teeth. He even dressed like one of those college students Baekhyun always bumped to when taking the bus on the weekends. He wasn’t very pleasant to look at but he didn’t really look like the image of a monster Baekhyun used to have until tonight.

 

That pushed him to believe that Chanyeol was probably just a psycho who had somehow managed to kidnap him away from his bedroom and bring him into a weird forest. Maybe he was planning to kill Baekhyun. He sneaked a glance towards the other and as if he had sensed Baekhyun’s gaze on him, Chanyeol’s lips twitched the slightest bit. Or maybe it was Baekhyun’s imagination. What if Chanyeol wasn’t even the other’s actual name? What if he was a serial killer who lured his victims in with weird costumes and tales? What if Baekhyun would end up buried in that same graveyard he had woken up in earlier? 

 

He had to escape at the first occasion given to him. He had to escape and find his way back home. He wondered if his father had noticed his absence. How long had it even been since he had left his bedroom? He didn’t know exactly but somehow, he had a feeling his father wouldn’t notice his absence until the next time he would get drunk out of his mind and search for someone to take the anger and the sorrow out of. Maybe it would take him three days to notice Baekhyun’s absence, or maybe a week. Would he be worried? Or would he be relieved? Would he even care? Did Baekhyun even want to go back to that house he called _home_ out of habit rather than comfort and familiarity? 

 

Ignoring the way his heart clenched in his chest, Baekhyun tried to discreetly look around. Somehow, something in him hoped that everything was real and that Chanyeol was just a  blue monster rather than a serial killer because at least, he wouldn’t die. Though, he supposed he couldn’t really know. Chanyeol could be a monster _and_ a serial killer at the same time.

 

Before he could delve into even more nonsensical and panicked thoughts, Chanyeol’s low voice arose right in front of him and he froze, looking at the other’s back.

 

"There we are," he said, voice sharp yet oddly empty, as if he tried forcing the enthusiasm into it but didn’t really have the heart to do so. 

 

He had stopped walking and stood a few feet away from Baekhyun now. The latter slowly stepped closer to him, curiously observing him and wondering if that was his actual cue to run away.

 

However, Chanyeol looked at him over his shoulder, his red gaze catching Baekhyun’s for a second before the latter instantly looked away. It felt weird, looking into red eyes that almost glowed brightly in the surrounding darkness. It wasn’t too dark though, Baekhyun noticed. 

 

"Well, don’t just stand there. Come closer," Chanyeol urged him, still looking at him impatiently.

 

Baekhyun finally noticed that he had stopped walking and slowly stepped closer to the other, still not looking at him, his eyes focusing on his own feet instead. He stopped after lining his own feet next to Chanyeol’s. He had nothing but socks on, the sole of his feet probably bruised and dirtied by now. It didn’t hurt that much, however, there had been nothing but dust, soil, or dry grass on their path until now and for the first time that day, Baekhyun thought that he had been lucky to have ended up in a graveyard in the middle of the forest.

 

He looked up after a few silent seconds, glancing at Chanyeol who oddly didn’t say anything. He wasn’t even looking at Baekhyun, his gaze turned straight ahead of him. Baekhyun followed his gaze and suddenly, he found the breath knocked out of him.

 

Right in front of him, only a few feet away, stood a big, massive gate that seemed to stretch up and reach into the permanent, unmoving grey clouds plastered over the night sky. It was an odd gate, it was entirely black and looked like the gates standing in front of one of those gothic style mansions Baekhyun often saw in his textbooks or even read about in books he borrowed from the library at school. It looked old and yet, the metal it seemed to be made of wasn’t rusty in the least. On the contrary, it almost glinted in some places while other spots seemed to be wrapped in an substance that looked like shadows and smoke at the same time. 

 

It had spikes, blades, bars, and odd swirls that almost took the shape of flames, big eyes, or even a sharp-teethed smile on some spots. It almost seemed alive and Baekhyun felt shudders running through his whole body as he tried looking up to see where exactly it ended. However, what took his breath away wasn’t really the gate but rather, what stood behind its open doors. 

 

It wasn’t empty. There was the first sign of life in what felt like hours right in front of him and yet, Baekhyun wasn’t even sure whether he felt reassured or even more frightened by what was offered to his wide eyes. It wasn’t people that he was seeing right in front of him, walking in and out of the gates, heading towards the forest around them or inside what seemed to be a city or a town at the very least. They weren’t human, there was nothing but monsters around him.

 

There were colors, various shades of blue, red, black, green, some of them dark as the night and others bright as the colors swimming in the pencil case of a child. There was fur, feathers, leather-like skin, shadows, and even what looked like candy melting under the sun on some of them. There were small monsters, those who could easily be stepped on if they weren’t careful and alert enough to dodge the steps of the bigger, massive monsters walking around with their chest puffed out and their chin held high as if they knew they could crush anyone with a single hand. 

 

Some of them looked human, they had human features except for small details, like nails pointing from various parts of their body like an animal about to be cut and analyzed. Others had colorful skin, and Baekhyun even saw some of them with strange limbs, horns, beady eyes, teeth big enough to prevent them from closing their mouth, and other kinds of horrifying details Baekhyun couldn’t even take in.

 

He couldn’t take all of it in. He couldn’t do anything but look around, gaze sliding over every single monstrous creature walking around as if this was the most natural thing ever. It wasn’t. it wasn’t natural, just like the way Baekhyun’s heart thundered in his chest and wailed like a tortured and frightened animal wasn’t natural but painful. He could feel it in his stomach, the small ball of apprehension made out of flames that gradually grew stronger the longer Baekhyun spent looking around and taking everything in, until he could confidently say apprehension was wiped away by a growing tinge of fear.

 

And yet, he couldn’t even say that this was entirely terrifying. Somehow, Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel amazed by this at the same time.

 

"Let’s go in, come on," he heard before once again, Chanyeol stepped forward and started walking away, obviously silently expecting Baekhyun to follow along.

 

Silently, Baekhyun did as expected, fastening his steps to catch up to Chanyeol and walk alongside him because the closer he got to the wide open gates, the more monsters were around and the more the fear in the pit of his stomach grew. He didn’t trust Chanyeol but the latter hadn’t done anything harmful to him yet and he supposed that was more than he could tell about the few creatures that spotted him and looked at him threateningly. Or maybe they simply looked threatening because they were mostly hideous monsters.

 

Together, they walked past the gates, heading further into what Baekhyun supposed was the main city of this Cave or whatever this place was called. For a few minutes, Baekhyun could only take everything in with, once again, a silent mix of fear and amazement taking over his whole body.

 

Chanyeol seemingly had decided to let him digest everything on his own, still silent as he led Baekhyun through the slowly growing crowd of creatures that mostly minded their own business. 

 

And it was odd, because the further they walked, the more this place was actually starting to look like a city. There were buildings around and contrary to the gates, they all looked rather modern. Baekhyun swore he could’ve seen some of them back home, with less damage and more structure. The whole place almost seemed to be crumbling down, in ruins, but somehow Baekhyun almost had the feeling that that was simply the way things were made to look. 

 

It was mostly buildings around, most of them dirtied and half crumbling, their windows either broken or stained enough for him not to be able to see anything that was happening inside. There was even what looked like a few stores around which was weird, Baekhyun wasn’t really sure what people could even sell in this kind of place and yet, when he caught glimpse of a faceless figure stepping out of one of those stores, Baekhyun thought that there must be some useful things in there. 

 

Curiously, he watched as the faceless creature seemed to be fumbling with something in its hands before bringing one of them up to his head. Baekhyun felt something in his stomach churning when the creatures proceeded to tap something against its head before its hand dropped to reveal what seemed to be a purple nose sticking to where the forehead should be. Maybe he shouldn’t have wondered what exactly stores could be selling here. 

 

Trying his best to forget what he had just seen, Baekhyun looked away and took in the different means of transportation there seemed to be in this world. The most common one seemed to be an odd, almost gothic-like version of a carriage being pulled by creatures that looked halfway between a horse, a dog, and a human. Others were almost simply trailing on bigger creatures’ shoulders and when one monster got off the other monster that had seemingly been transporting him, he gave him something that probably worked as a kind of payment but Baekhyun looked away before he could see what it exactly was.

 

Overall, this place seemed to work just like any other city around the world. The only difference was the horrifying decor and the even more horrifying inhabitants that moved around, walking, running, crawling, and galloping for some, like a bunch of bugs swarmed into a tiny hole pierced into the wall of an uncared for house.

 

Somehow, the fear was almost entirely swept away by amazement. This almost looked like one of the dozens of comic books he had read throughout his whole life. 

 

It took Baekhyun a few more minutes to notice that there was definitely something familiar about this world, however, and he did so with a clenched heart. A lot of people were directly looking at him weirdly, observing him, talking amongst themselves while pointing at him. This was familiar and understandable in a way. Chanyeol had said that he would be the freak in this world and Baekhyun was used to it but that didn’t make the feeling more pleasant. On the contrary, he wondered if that would always be his life, being stared at like an anomaly wherever he went.

 

"So, does all of this look realer to you?"

 

Chanyeol’s low, amused voice pulled him out of his thoughts and observations and it was only when he looked up at the other that Baekhyun noticed their arms were brushing together as they walked. It felt cold even through the fabric of their clothes and Baekhyun instantly stepped away and put a bit more distance between them. He must’ve gotten closer to the other unconsciously and he almost laughed at the way his unconscious seemed to think the monster that had pulled him into this world would offer him any kind of protection.

 

Though, Chanyeol still hadn’t done anything to harm him. It felt weird. Baekhyun wasn’t really used to people accosting him or even just looking at him with any kind of positive and innocent intention. He didn’t really look harmful either, he might be tall and blue but he didn’t look particularly threatening.

 

When he noticed Chanyeol impatiently raising an eyebrow, he cleared his throat and shrugged.

 

"So, you’re all… monsters?" he asked hesitantly, looking up at the other and doing his best not to let his gaze stray away again after catching the gaze of a creature whose eyes almost looked like mirrors and black holes at the same time.

 

It was a stupid question. Baekhyun wasn’t blind, he was not entirely stupid either despite being told that he was his whole life. He just didn’t exactly know how to address this situation. Now that he was a bit calmer and could sort his thoughts out properly, he could realize that not all of this could be a prank or a dream or anything even remotely _human._

 

And surprisingly, he didn’t really feel the urge to run away either. These creatures weren’t completely harmless but no one had attacked him yet and even if it was all a bit scary still, it was also fascinating. He supposed this was different from watching any kind of horror movies but still at least half as fascinating. He also supposed it was a bit stupid of him to even think this was anything similar to watching a movie. This was a world of monsters. A world of monsters he was stuck in for now.

 

He stopped that trail of thought, preventing himself from falling into yet another cloud of panic he wouldn’t be able to untangle himself from.

 

"You have a thing for asking questions you already have the answer to, don’t you?" Chanyeol chuckled and it was odd to think that a monster could _laugh_ or even feel any kind of emotion. 

 

"I mean, it’s a bit weird," he blurted out, glancing at Chanyeol worriedly for a second to see if he had offended him. The taller was simply observing him, waiting for him to continue speaking which he did. "You’re a monster but you can speak like a normal human being. You can even feel things. Or at least you can laugh," he added as an afterthought.

 

"So you really believe that this is all real now," Chanyeol simply hummed softly, still with that same sharp-teethed, amused grin. "That’s great, I almost thought you would start losing your mind and I’d be left to deal with a lunatic."

 

Baekhyun frowned a bit.

 

"It would’ve been your fault, you’re the one who brought me here," he mumbled under his breath, looking away and back at his own feet instead. His socks were darkened now, dirtied, and his feet were starting to hurt a little bit. 

 

"Well, I thought you’d be strong enough to handle it," the other replied.

 

Baekhyun almost laughed at that but before he could even say anything, a tiny monster ran right towards him, its toothless mouth wide open and what looked like three tongues of different colors hanging out of it as he loudly cackled. Baekhyun let out a startled sound and stepped away, closer to Chanyeol again in order to avoid a clash. He almost lost his balance, however, and would’ve fallen if not for the cold hand that grabbed his arm.

 

Out of pure instinct, he flinched away and freed himself from Chanyeol’s cold grip. Another tiny monster of the same kind ran right between them this time and Baekhyun looked up at Chanyeol, feeling a bit bad for having reacted that way. However, the other didn’t seem to mind. His smile was gone but there was no trace of any other negative emotion on his face either.

 

An almost awkward kind of silence settled over them after that and Baekhyun took a few seconds to break it, yielding to the many questions swarming his head and waiting to be let out through his mouth.

 

"How come this kind of world exists?" he asked, glancing at Chanyeol who finally looked at him again and met his gaze. 

 

The scales on his face almost looked soft on his skin, gleaming a bit and contrasting with the sanguine red of his eyes. They were almost like freckles on his nose and cheeks, glinting in that small swirl that led to his right temple. Baekhyun wondered if they could cut skin with a single touch. They probably could, this was a monster he was talking about.

 

"Everyone here is a monster and _was_ a monster," Chanyeol replied after a few seconds, as if he had formed that sentence in his head properly before giving it to Baekhyun.

 

The latter’s gaze caught on a crowd gathered a few feet away from where they were and he observed it as they walked past, his ears catching on cheers and curses and what sounded like the characteristic soundtrack of a fight. He looked away as they engulfed into some kind of narrow alley, pouring all his attention back to Chanyeol.

 

" _Was_ a monster?" he repeated curiously, not really understanding what the other meant by the use of both the present and the past tense in his sentence.

 

Chanyeol shrugged, glancing at him. His red eyes were glowing in the darkness of the small alley and Baekhyun made sure not to look away from them because he didn’t want to get lost even if it felt a bit discomforting to look into those eyes.

 

They walked out of the alley and Chanyeol’s eyes stopped glowing, there was a bit more light around them now. And somehow, even more monsters but no one was fighting here, simply walking around as if they all had somewhere to be. Baekhyun wondered if they really did have somewhere to be.

 

"Everyone here is a sinner," Chanyeol eventually spoke again, pulling Baekhyun’s attention back to him. Baekhyun’s stomach dropped in anticipation of his next words. Chanyeol’s voice was flat and emotionless when he spoke again. "This is where all the sinners, the horrible people are sent to after dying."

 

For a second, Baekhyun looked at the other blankly, his feet still following Chanyeol even if his mind seemed to have gotten lost somewhere out of his reach. He repeated that sentence in his head. He did it twice to make sure he had gotten its meaning right and when his breath hitched, his heart freezing in his chest before crashing against his ribcage like a mad animal, Baekhyun still had a hard time grasping those words.

 

"You mean, human beings are sent here after they _die?"_ he asked, his own voice sounding a bit shrill and high pitched to his own ears but he couldn't register it over the cold whispers of panic rising in his head like the first whistles of the wind at the very beginning of a storm.

 

"Yep," Chanyeol merely said, popping the last letter and once again shrugging, completely oblivious to Baekhyun’s inner panic as he smiled at someone passing by. Baekhyun followed his gaze, his eyes widening when they met the beady eyes of a woman whose skin was a pale shade of green, her hair flying in waves around her head and her lower body covered in scales and elongated like a snake’s body.

 

And Baekhyun didn’t scream but his voice was pretty loud and exasperated when he spoke again because since the very beginning of this odd night, each time Chanyeol revealed something terrifying to him, he acted so casual and carefree while Baekhyun could feel his mind melting down into a puddle of confusion and horror with each passing second.

 

"Am I _dead?!_ " he _almost_ shrieked, which seemed to finally bring Chanyeol’s attention back to him and away from that snake, or woman, or snake _-_ woman, or whatever that creature even was.

 

Baekhyun’s chest was heaving up and down when his gaze met Chanyeol’s bright but confused one and the latter seemed to return the feeling for a second before realization spread on his features and he grinned again. Baekhyun bit his tongue. He was starting to hate that smile a little bit, it only made him feel crazier than he already felt. 

 

"Of course not!" Chanyeol eventually replied and Baekhyun found himself not reassured by his words one last bit. Chanyeol then frowned a bit and hummed. "Well, technically you’re not."

 

"What do you mean?" Baekhyun urged the other, his feet refusing to cooperate and causing him to freeze in the middle of the street. He could feel eyes on him and he was used to being looked at this way which made it a little easier to ignore but either way, he couldn’t really focus on anything else but what Chanyeol had just said.

 

The other simply rolled his eyes, standing a few feet away from Baekhyun as it had taken him a second to notice the latter had stopped walking. He glanced around him before looking at Baekhyun again.

 

"Follow me, let’s just go sit there," he said while pointing to a lone, dirty, but long rock a few feet away from where they were standing. 

 

Legs wobbly, Baekhyun followed him, knowing that he needed to sit down if Chanyeol was going to continue telling him horrifying things that made him feel like he was having a mental breakdown. He plopped down on the rock that was almost carved out to the shape of a bench but certainly didn’t feel as comfortable.

 

Chanyeol sat down next to him, his red eyes focused on Baekhyun’s face. 

 

"Don’t freak out, you’re not dead," was the first that he said and Baekhyun looked at him with a small glare. It was easy to ask him not to freak out but actually staying calm in this still unfamiliar situation wasn’t as easy. "You’re just in the world of the dead. Well, at least in one part of it."

 

Baekhyun sighed, pressing his elbows on his knees and letting his head drop into his hands. He wasn’t dead. That was at least a little reassuring. Not totally since he was in a world full of dead monsters. 

 

"So this place is Hell. Literally," he added, looking at Chanyeol after straightening his back again.

 

The blue monster looked way too amused by Baekhyun’s discomfort and pain but the latter didn’t say anything, both because he was used not to say anything to anyone and because he didn’t want to to somehow upset Chanyeol and actually blend into this place by dying.

 

"It’s kinda complicated," Chanyeol hummed, tilting his head a bit and pursing his lips as if he was once again trying to come up with the best explanation possible. "We’re all just dead people who take the appearance of their sins in the Above. That’s what we call the human world, the Above," he added, probably noticing Baekhyun’s confused expression.

 

And Baekhyun wanted to laugh because here he was, sitting in the middle of _Hell_ , talking to a blue monster surrounded by a bunch of even more horrifying and ugly monsters. They were all dead. Even the blue creature sitting next to him was dead and it was difficult to grasp that concept because the color of Chanyeol’s skin was so vibrant and _alive_ , just like his amused smile and his constantly shifting expression. He supposed that explained the empty, constantly dead eyes and how cold his skin had felt when he had touched Baekhyun.

 

This whole thing felt like a joke, a horrifying joke, and Baekhyun, who usually silently took everything given to him every single day of his life without saying anything, wanted to scream now. However, he didn’t. He simply remained silent and tried his best to process everything.

 

"Then your appearance is your punishment in the after life?" he questioned more than stated even if at this point, he could manage to link a few things together.

 

It made sense. People taking the appearance of their sins after dying. That was a different vision of Hell than he had but then again, he supposed there was no way for anyone to know what the after-life looked like without being part of it. 

 

"Exactly, I’m glad you’re finally starting to think again. I was starting to lose hope," Chanyeol chuckled and Baekhyun frowned, not sure whether the other had just insulted him or not.

 

He chose to let it go for now, however, because Chanyeol shifted, raising an arm to point at a creature passing by, a few feet away from where they were sitting. 

 

"It’ll be easier to understand if you observe," he explained when Baekhyun gave him a confused look. "Try guessing what sin he’s getting punished for," Chanyeol added when Baekhyun still didn’t understand.

 

He sighed a bit, not entirely comfortable with what he was asked to do but still observing the creature still walking very slowly near them. It was one of the most normal-looking creatures Baekhyun had seen in this place until now, its skin was very pale and almost blue but not like Chanyeol’s skin, that monster looked just like a corpse, with sunken cheeks and eyes, the skin rotten near the ears and its head almost bare of any hair. 

 

Baekhyun really didn’t see how he was supposed to figure out what sins that monster had committed while alive so he spent a few more seconds silently observing it. Suddenly, the creature seemed to trip on something and it crashed on the floor, Baekhyun’s eyes widening as he watched its body almost entirely dismantle. As if it was nothing but a mere doll, its limbs scattered around, one hand sliding away while one foot remained where it had seemingly tripped, stuck on the ground. As if nothing had even happened, the creature got up and quietly gathered its scattered limbs, placing them back together on its body before slowly walking away. Baekhyun was horrified to notice that it had left an ear on the ground, seemingly unaware.

 

"That one used to be a thief," he heard, his eyes slowly sliding to Chanyeol’s amused smile. "That kind of creature keeps losings its limbs and leaving them on random places sometimes without even noticing. By the time they notice that there’s something missing, someone has usually already stolen their limbs and sold it or exchanged it for something else. That one had a missing finger and he probably will never find that ear ever again either," Chanyeol added with a chuckle and Baekhyun followed his gaze back to where the monster had tripped and fell.

 

There was another one of those tiny monsters from earlier picking up the lone ear and sneakily sliding it into the pocket of its jacket. Baekhyun wasn’t sure whether he wanted to laugh or cry.

 

"That seems like a fitting punishment," he settled on saying, his voice not louder than a whisper carrying fright and amazement at the same time.

 

"It is," Chanyeol agreed before smiling at him. "Are you ready to walk again?"

 

"I guess," Baekhyun replied with a sigh before furrowing his eyebrows. "Where are we going?"

 

"We’ll just continue walking and observing. I’m helping you familiarize with our world," Chanyeol said, chin held high as if he thought that Baekhyun should be grateful to him.

 

He simply sighed, choosing not to say anything and simply standing up to follow the other again as they continued walking for a few silent seconds. There were trees around, all bare from any leaves, and there were also holes of various shape and size on the ground. Baekhyun almost tripped as he struggled to avoid them while keeping up with Chanyeol’s fast and wide steps.

 

His eyes still traveled around curiously, trying to grasp the fact that everyone around him was dead _and_ horrible sinners. Maybe it had never been an exaggeration to call his bullies monsters, he wondered if they would end up here or if maybe this place was reserved for sinners of a much more important scale. He glanced at Chanyeol. He wondered what sin the blue monster had committed.

 

However, he didn’t ask, and even if he had wanted to ask, he wouldn’t have had the occasion to because Chanyeol spoke again, pointing to another creature with a nod of his head.

 

"Try guessing this one," he asked and it was odd how he considered this as a game when they were literally trying to analyze the sins of horrifying monsters.

 

However, if everyone around had been dangerous and heartless in their life then everyone was even more dangerous and heartless now and Baekhyun didn’t want to offend anyone under any circumstance. That included Chanyeol so he looked at their new target and observed it.

 

It was one of the tallest monsters around and at first, Baekhyun almost replied that it was a bear before realizing how stupid that would be. Some of these creatures did look like animals or even had animal parts like the woman with the lower body of a snake earlier but there were no animals around. The monster was entirely covered in fur from head to toe, it had no clothes contrary to some of the other monsters Baekhyun had seen around, and it seemingly even had a hard time seeing properly because the fur covered even its whole face, some strands hanging down his nose like an overgrown mustache. Baekhyun watched it almost step over a smaller monster that screeched at it and cursed before walking away.

 

"Come on, use your imagination. This game can be fun," Chanyeol said from next to him and Baekhyun glanced at the permanently wide and amused grin on his face before looking back at the fury creature slowly walking away.

 

Its chest was heaving up and down, as if it had a difficult time breathing, and when it brought a big hand up and started fanning itself with it, Baekhyun was starting to get an idea. The ground where it stepped was left stained with a damp mark in the shape of its feet.

 

"Does it have something to do with fur?" he tried, looking at Chanyeol when the other monster disappeared out of sight behind some alley. 

 

"Bingo!" the taller grinned and weirdly, Baekhyun felt a little proud of himself. "He probably killed hundreds of animals for their fur in his past life and now he’s damned to be furry, hot, and suffocated for eternity," Chanyeol shrugged and his smile somehow made his words sound even more horrifying than they already did. 

 

That sounded awful, however, and Baekhyun felt the slightest bit bad for that creature even if he supposed it deserved it. It wouldn’t have ended up here if that wasn’t the case.

 

They continued walking, Chanyeol pointing out to all kinds of creatures and asking Baekhyun to figure out their sins. It wasn’t always easy, however, and Baekhyun wasn’t able to get any right answer so Chanyeol always had to explain it to him, leaving him in a mix of amazement and horror every single time. It was mostly enjoyable, however, and Baekhyun could confidently say that he hadn’t had so much fun with someone else in years and it almost felt like Chanyeol was a friend he had gone to a convention centre about comic books and video games, both of them trying to figure out what people were cosplaying as. Baekhyun supposed that was how it would feel to go that kind of place with a friend, at least, seeing as it had never happened to him before.

 

Chanyeol wasn’t bad company either, he had an odd sense of humor and kept smiling almost creepily but he wasn’t mean. Even if Baekhyun sometimes had a hard time figuring out whether some of his words were just mean remarks towards him or simple jokes.

 

Either way, they continued walking around, Baekhyun taking in the simple, old, yet almost modern set of this place called the Cave with curious eyes. It was still a bit odd to tell himself that everyone around him was dead but somehow, it was also a bit more reassuring to think that everyone had been human at some point. It made even the ugliest of monsters he had seen a bit less terrifying. Moreover, no one had tried attacking him yet so he supposed these monsters weren’t really the blood-thirsty kind. 

 

However, that thought was quickly scattered away as soon as a shrill scream reached his ears, cutting him off as he was trying to figure out the sins of yet another monster while Chanyeol was laughing at his nonsensical suggestions. His curious eyes quickly widened when he caught sight of the most terrifying creature he had seen until now running through the streets while pushing away or even stomping over whoever stood in front of him as an obstacle.

 

It was another furry creature that also looked close to a bear but this one had fur the color of blood, dirtied blood. Claws peeked out of its fingertips, a greenish substance that looked like drool dripping from its open mouth along with a loud and terrifying growl that almost sounded like millions of boulders of rocks clashing together through an earthquake. It didn’t speak, contrary to every other monster Baekhyun had seen, it roared and growled and stomped on the ground loudly as it ran through the streets like a rabid animal.

 

Confusion filled him up further when he noticed two other creatures running after him. Those were completely different, they weren’t furry. On the contrary there almost seemed to be nothing but bones and rotten skin under the rusty and dirtied armor they were sporting as they ran after the monster. Everyone around them had stopped whatever they were doing to observe what was happening but as soon as those three unusual creatures were out of sight, everyone went back to their occupation as if nothing had just happened.

 

"That’s what our oldest residents look like," Chanyeol said, pulling Baekhyun out of the confused torpor the scene he had just witnessed had caused.

 

"What?" he could only say as he looked up at Chanyeol, still a bit shaken up. 

 

That furry creature had almost spread an aura of fear through the whole area, he could see it in the way every monster around seemed to be a bit restless and the fact that even the noise had diminished a little bit. Even Chanyeol seemed to be affected by it, his eyebrows furrowed a little and his lips pursed faintly.

 

"The longer you stay here, the more you turn into an actual monster. That one is different from us, not only does it have no humanity left but also no mind, no thoughts. It’s nothing but a monstrous coil," Chanyeol explained softly. "They’re usually sent to the Wailing Forest but I guess it’s starting to overflow and some of those creatures manage to escape and find their way back here. It would be easier to kill them I guess, but we can’t really die, obviously."

 

That made sense and somehow, it sounded a bit horrifying. These creatures were meant to live here for eternity, until they lost the last of themselves and turned into horrifying monsters. It sounded awful and even Baekhyun suddenly started feeling trapped in this dark place, he could only imagine how it felt to live here forever.

 

"But if you can’t die, why was there a graveyard earlier?" he settled on asking instead of commenting on what Chanyeol had just said. That didn’t make sense.

 

"Well, we don’t bury people there. That’s just the home of the zombies I guess," Chanyeol said and Baekhyun looked at him for a blank second, waiting to see whether he was joking or not. The other seemed to notice and he rolled his red eyes before laughing softly. "I mean, the creatures who had nothing but a rotten soul when alive now have nothing but rotten bodies. They like to bury themselves under the soil, I guess they want to go with the whole zombie thing even if they don’t have to," he shrugged.

 

That just sounded a bit weird but Baekhyun supposed he couldn’t really understand a monster’s mindset so he didn’t comment on it, choosing to question Chanyeol about that Wailing Forest instead. However, before he could even get another word out, something cold gripped his wrist and he turned around, letting out a startled sound when he came face to face with an almost completely round, big creature who leaned towards him and examined his face. It looked as if  someone had just blown air into the creature’s body and it could fly into the sky at any moment if not for its heavy weight.

 

It started sniffling the air around Baekhyun and the latter froze, not even able to tug his wrist free of the creature’s hold. 

 

"You smell nice. What are you?" it asked in a low voice that oddly sounded like the echoes one could hear when talking inside an empty, wide cave. 

 

Baekhyun didn’t answer, fear tying his tongue into a knot inside his mouth and preventing him from doing anything but gaping at the monster in fear. When he remained silent, it leaned even closer to him and Baekhyun was mortified to hear a small sound of fear escape his own mouth. Its eyes were yellow and green at the same time, as if they were nothing but small containers holding in green-tainted water stained by a few drops of oil swimming around. Its mouth seemed to be almost big enough for Baekhyun’s head to fit in if the monster decided to eat him.

 

It was staring right into his eyes and Baekhyun’s whole body tensed up, the same way it had just earlier that day when he had been humiliated in the lunchroom and had done nothing about it.

 

"Leave him alone," he suddenly heard next to him and the drops of oil in the monster’s eyes shifted to look over Baekhyun’s shoulder and at Chanyeol instead. Then they widened as if in surprise and instantly, he let go of Baekhyun’s wrist and stepped away while muttered unintelligible things. By the look on its face, it sounded like apologies but before Baekhyun could properly hear him it ran away on its short legs, bumping into a few other creatures on its way.

 

As soon as he was sure that he wasn’t going to be eaten by a monster with oily eyes, Baekhyun took a deep breath and held onto his own wrist, the skin still cold where the creature had been touching him. His heart was still beating crazily.

 

"Thanks," he muttered, glancing at Chanyeol who had surprisingly just saved him.

 

The other simply waved him off, still with that usual grin. It still looked a bit odd when coupled with his emotionless, empty eyes but for the first time ever, Baekhyun found it a bit reassuring. At school, no one had ever stood up for him. This was an unfamiliar feeling. There was no reason for Chanyeol to actually protect him either, besides the fact that he was the one who had pulled Baekhyun into this whole mess to begin with.

 

Not for the first time, he wondered what sins had Chanyeol committed for him to be sent here and look that way. There was nothing that really betrayed him in his appearance. Blue skin and scales and red eyes could mean anything. 

 

"Would you like to see what monsters feed on?" Chanyeol asked before Baekhyun could say anything else, wiggling his eyebrows and grinning with his sharp teeth. Baekhyun made a face almost unconsciously and the other seemed to catch it, small chuckles escaping his pale lips. "It’s not as bad as you think."

 

And as always, Baekhyun kept his words in. 

 

However, this time, it wasn’t because he wanted to stay out of trouble and make life easier for himself. This time, he genuinely didn’t want to offend or hurt Chanyeol.

 

The blue skinned monster hadn’t done anything to hurt him either, after all, and as he followed him to wherever Chanyeol would lead him, Baekhyun wondered if that was what it felt like to have a friend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Don’t worry, that’s normal tea. I wouldn’t give you tea made out of those special leaves from  human trees."

 

Baekhyun froze as soon as he heard those words, his wide eyes looking at Chanyeol over the seam of his cup, the fuming liquid that had been breathing a gentle, delicious taste into his nose now much less appealing. He brought his cup down again, putting it on the small table separating them. The table swung a little as if one of its legs was shorter than all the others and Baekhyun gave Chanyeol a disgusted look.

 

The other parted his lips to speak again but Baekhyun shook his head and cut him off.

 

"I don’t wanna know," he said with a quiet chuckle, not willing to let Chanyeol weird him out again just when he was starting to feel comfortable in this place.

 

"Fine, your loss then," the other huffed softly before taking a sip of his own cup of tea, his amused smile hidden behind the seam.

 

Baekhyun hesitantly moved to grab his own cup again and carefully took a tiny sip, half expecting to spit it out or rather, swallow it while coughing since he wouldn’t do anything to offend or upset Chanyeol. None of that happened, however, the tea tasted normal, like any cup of tea he had ever drunk back home — in the Above, as Chanyeol kept calling it — and Baekhyun was only half surprised since everything around him looked rather normal for now.

 

Chanyeol had brought him to his apartment, showing Baekhyun that all those buildings were indeed inhabited by monsters, separated into small apartments. Chanyeol’s was mostly in ruins, had no real furniture, but it looked pretty normal and human. There wasn’t any developed kind of electronic device, of course, there wasn’t even a couch they could sit on and they were merely settled on mildly comfortable pillows sprawled on the floor, around an old and half broken table. There were a few books scattered around, a few packs of what looked like boardgames, and oddly a few of those old game consoles and even a tiny, old television that had probably stopped being produced in the human world before Baekhyun was even born. He wasn’t sure how those had gotten here and how electricity could even be produced in this place but he chose not to ask for now.

 

Earlier, when Chanyeol had showed him the kitchen, there wasn’t even any closet, only a lone faucet and a few packs of snacks and drinks simply left on the floor or on the tiny shelves that were, once again, mostly old and damaged. However, besides the lack of furniture and life, it was mostly a normal apartment. Moreover, Baekhyun thought that he shouldn’t be surprised. He didn’t really expect luxurious apartments in Hell, or the Cave. Chanyeol corrected him every time he so much as mentioned the world _Hell._

 

"So, what do you think?" 

 

Chanyeol’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts and Baekhyun looked at him, a bit disoriented and confused.

 

"About what?" he asked softly, hoping that the other would’t be upset because Baekhyun had spaced out.

 

Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be the case and when Chanyeol smiled, Baekhyun felt the slightest bit relieved. He hadn’t had a friend in so long, he almost felt awkward and unfamiliar, not really knowing how he was supposed to treat the other. Though, he supposed the fact that Chanyeol was a monster played some part in that. 

 

"About this place. In general," he added after seeing Baekhyun look around the apartment.

 

"Well," Baekhyun started, nibbling on his bottom lip as he struggled to find something nice to say. "I mean, there are monsters everywhere," he settled on saying, hoping that the other would understand.

 

Chanyeol furrowed his eyebrows and Baekhyun parted his lips, an apology already ready to be given. He didn’t want to upset Chanyeol. He didn’t want to ruin this, whatever this even was.

 

However, the other spoke before he could say anything.

 

"Yes, but you seem to be much less scared that before."

 

And it was a relief. Because Chanyeol seemed to be really concerned about how Baekhyun felt about this place and it was an unfamiliar feeling, having someone care about how he felt, but it was nice. Nicer than anything else Baekhyun had felt for the past few months, maybe years. 

 

"Yeah, I guess I’m more familiarized with it now," he smiled, shrugging a bit as his gaze fell to his still slightly fuming cup of tea. He brought it to his lips again and if he wasn’t mistaken, that seemed to please Chanyeol who smiled back at him. His smile didn’t look too frightening now, despite the sharp teeth. "It’s not really that scary anymore. As long as I’m not alone, I guess," he added as an afterthought because he was pretty sure that if Chanyeol were to kick him out of his house and leave him alone outside, he’d probably not last a single minute without breaking down in fear.

 

"So, you like it here?" Chanyeol asked and Baekhyun felt like he had been asking the same question for the past five minutes, as if he wanted to hear those exact words from Baekhyun.

 

And suddenly, it kind of made sense to Baekhyun. He still hadn’t had the occasion to ask Chanyeol why he had even brought him, a human, into this world if he wasn’t even planning to harm him at all but right then and there, it started making sense to Baekhyun.

 

Chanyeol was alone. He seemed to be living alone and if Baekhyun wasn’t mistaken, the monster who had grabbed his wrist earlier seemed to have been scared of Chanyeol, letting go of him and leaving as soon as he noticed that the blue monster was standing next to Baekhyun. Maybe, just maybe, Chanyeol was just like him. Maybe Chanyeol was lonely, maybe he felt just as lonely as Baekhyun did and maybe that was why he had ‘ _saved’_ him. Maybe Chanyeol had just been looking for a friend. Maybe he had thought that they were similar and could get along well. 

 

And to Baekhyun, that felt incredibly nice. He had never found anyone similar to him. He had never ever found someone willing to be his friend. He had never felt needed or appreciated or even remotely important to anyone. He could feel warmth spreading through his whole body at the thought, his heart swooning in his chest, basking in that unfamiliar but pleasant feeling of warmth Baekhyun had never felt before. 

 

It felt incredibly nice to know that someone wanted to be his _friend._ Chanyeol might be different, he might be a monster with blue skin and red eyes, a monster who had brought him down into this monstrous world without even asking for his consent but if he simply wanted to be Baekhyun's friend, the latter could overlook all of that. Moreover, despite looking a bit unusual and threatening, Chanyeol’s smile was gentle and full of expectations as he looked at Baekhyun. People usually never smiled so genuinely to him.

 

Almost bashfully, Baekhyun smiled back, his lips curving gently as his gaze fell to the dark liquid in his cup of tea. It wasn’t fuming anymore, it seemed to cool down faster than normal.

 

"I like it," he said softly, glancing at Chanyeol. His own smile widened when he saw something that looked like victory spreading on the other’s features. "I could visit you from time to time."

 

In the blink of an eye, the victorious smile on Chanyeol’s face was wiped away, confusion spreading through his features as he frowned a bit at Baekhyun. The latter felt his heart squeezing in his chest. Chanyeol looked disappointed. Maybe he didn’t want Baekhyun to leave? Maybe he was scared of feeling lonely as soon as Baekhyun left?

 

"Visit me?" Chanyeol repeated, voice now void of any of the curiosity or gentleness from only seconds ago.

 

"Yeah, I could visit you," Baekhyun replied, trying to smile reassuringly at the other. He didn’t want his new friend to feel bad or upset because of him. "I could come here from time to time to spend time with you."

 

Hesitantly, Baekhyun looked at the other properly, hoping that he would understand. Baekhyun couldn’t constantly stay here, no matter how nice it felt to spend time with Chanyeol. The best he could do was visit from time to time to spend a few hours with his new friend. That would be the best solution for both of them not to feel lonely anymore and as he watched Chanyeol’s features lose any kind of emotion for a few seconds, Baekhyun genuinely hoped the other wouldn’t suddenly start hating him.

 

Then, the unexpected happened. Suddenly, Chanyeol’s expression morphed from void to amused, his red eyes sparkling with an unfamiliar emotion that sent unpleasant shivers down Baekhyun’s spine. He parted his lips, his sharp teeth on display as he threw his head back and let out a boisterous laugh, his deep voice echoing in the mostly empty apartment.

 

Baekhyun’s smile shattered in a matter of seconds, his eyes filling up with confusion as he looked at Chanyeol, unable to comprehend why the other was laughing so much to what he had just said. Had he said something funny? He didn’t think so. He had simply offered the other to visit every other day to spend time with him. Was Chanyeol upset? Why would he laugh if he were upset though? 

 

It went on for a few seconds, Chanyeol simply laughing more while Baekhyun kept growing restless and uncomfortable by the second. Soon, his laughter sounded more mocking than amused and Baekhyun looked away, familiar prickles of shame biting through his arms and his spine. That laugh sounded just like Taeyong’s laugh. It sounded just like every single one of his classmates’ laugh whenever someone said something insulting or humiliating to Baekhyun.

 

"Why are you laughing?" Baekhyun eventually asked after a few seconds, cup of tea forgotten on the table, the drink now probably turning as cold as his heart suddenly felt, as if the sea of warmth it had been basking in had suddenly frozen after an unexpected change of weather. 

 

His hands found each other, fingers clinging to each other as if in fear and discomfort. Suddenly, Chanyeol’s apartment felt cold. Empty and cold. Just like its owner’s laughter.

 

It took him a few seconds to stop laughing. When Baekhyun managed to gather enough strength to look at him, his features were twisted into a grimace, a wide grin with sharp teeth, the scales on his cheeks bright under the dim light of the apartment. They looked sharp, as sharp as his teeth did. As sharp as his smile.

 

His red eyes weren’t exactly void anymore, there was just amusement, burning amongst red flames of something Baekhyun couldn’t put a name on. It wasn’t pleasant.

 

Then, Chanyeol finally spoke. His voice sounded lower, scratchier, and deeper than before. As if a vail had been lifted and finally, he could reveal himself. Like monsters crawling under a child’s bed as soon as night fell over the world. 

 

"Do you really think I brought you here to be my friend?" he asked and it was faint, emptiness still the most prominent feature of his voice, but it was there. That mocking tone. That small whisper of humiliation. Baekhyun had heard it thousands of time in his life, through the voices of different monsters. "Do you really think you’ll have the occasion to go back home as you please?"

 

He could feel it, piercing through his heart like a spike, wrapping around the poor muscle like sharp nails and even sharper fingers. He could feel it, crawling down his throat, tying into a knot there and preventing air from seeping into his lungs. Or maybe the sand that he was feeling in his throat was the air he was suddenly struggling to breathe in. Or maybe that sand was just the crumbles falling off his heart. That would explain the pain in his chest.

 

"You never learn, Baekhyun."

 

And suddenly, that voice always whispering in his head had a face now. 

 

Suddenly, Chanyeol’s smile wasn’t gentle or genuine anymore.

 

It was blue. 

 

Blue as the lifeless and fading coil of Baekhyun's stupid hopes.

 

He never learned.


	3. Chapter Two

Baekhyun never learned.

 

He never learned but somehow, this situation felt painfully familiar. It took him a few seconds to be able to swim up the sea of disappointment formed by the dark crumbles of his heart and figure out why exactly this situation was familiar. Thinking that Chanyeol had merely wanted to be his friend only to realize he had been deceived felt familiar and as soon as he figured out _why,_ Baekhyun couldn’t help but let out a small, self-deprecating snort.

 

He caught Chanyeol raising an eyebrow but he didn’t mind. Baekhyun didn’t mind because suddenly, he felt like like a freshman in high school all over again. His second freshman year, the one he had to retake. Only a few days into the new school year, Baekhyun had still not made any friends and he knew that it had nothing to do with the fact that he knew no one in his class, nor that all his classmates were a year younger than him. He had been friendless the year before that too.

 

He had been friendless and yet, one day, he remembered a nice boy with a friendly smile approaching him right before the bell indicating the beginning of the school day rang. He remembered looking up at his classmate in confusion when he had approached him, half-expecting the other to ask him to move away so he could take Baekhyun’s usual seat instead but none of that had happened.

 

On the contrary, the unfamiliar boy had just smiled at him widely and suddenly started asking Baekhyun if he liked playing video games. The latter had been deeply confused and surprised, no one had ever tried initiating a conversation with him and especially not on the topic of video games. It had taken him a few seconds to process the other’s words before Baekhyun, so eager and desperate to feel accepted and to make at least one friend this year, had grinned back at him with all his teeth, almost stuttering as they engaged into a conversation about video games. Or rather, Baekhyun had babbled about all the video games he wished he could afford to buy while the other had simply kept smiling and occasionally nodded at him, silently listening.

 

It should’ve been a telltale sign, it should’ve warned him, he should’ve known and yet, when Sungwoo had suddenly stopped smiling while grabbing Baekhyun’s pencil case and simply spilling its content on the desk, Baekhyun had felt each and every single pencil crashing against the hardwood surface simply jumping back up to pierce him through the heart. It hadn’t been difficult to figure out what exactly was happening when Sungwoo had simply laughed at him before running towards Taeyong and his small group of friends like a puppy seeking for the approval of its owner. Sungwoo had also been a new student, just transferred from another school. Baekhyun supposed that had been his way of getting himself accepted into Taeyong’s circle of friends.

 

And right now, with Chanyeol still sitting right across from him with that same wide, sharp-teethed smile, Baekhyun couldn’t but feel the exact same emotion that had overwhelmed him for the rest of his day at that time, years ago. Disappointment. A foolish feeling of stupidity for having gotten his hopes so high up like a naive child at the first smile given to him. He should’ve known. He should’ve learned.

 

However, there was something completely different now, as Baekhyun sat on the floor of a ruined living room, at the very home of the creature that had forcefully dragged him down to this hellish world. He felt utterly humiliated at the knowledge that even a _monster_ could fool him. He could feel his skin boiling, bubbles forming in his veins, scalding hot, jumpy under his flesh, enough for him to almost feel like ripping his own skin out and getting rid of whatever always pushed him to end up like this, so stupid and naive. 

 

He had been fooled by a monster. He had been humiliated. That had happened to him so many times in his life that Baekhyun had lost count but somehow, knowing that this particular aspect of his life wouldn’t change even in a world completely different from the one he was born and raised in made everything worse. This would never change. It would never change and Baekhyun was tired of it. He was tired of this always happening. He was tired of always finding himself humiliated, played with in this way. He was tired of letting this always happen to him.

 

Because he knew it. He knew this wouldn’t happen if he were more alert, braver, maybe smarter. He also knew that fighting back would’ve gotten him in trouble back at home, both with the bullies at school and his father at home. He knew it because there had been a time when he had tried before realizing that it was a mistake. He had never fought back because he had perfectly plausible reasons back at home but now, now Baekhyun wasn’t sure those reasons applied. He wasn’t sure he _had_ to let Chanyeol humiliate him like that. He was tired and the monsters back at home were enough, he didn’t need another blue skinned, clawed one to add up to everything.

 

He was tired and when Baekhyun finally raised his head up to properly look at Chanyeol, eyes narrowed, fists clenched and trembling against his thighs, fingernails digging into the tender palm of his skin as his own voice whispered those same words in his head. Always those same words. _Keep it in. Ignore it. Collect yourself._ His own voice, in his head, was getting louder, repeating those same exact words like it always did, first a whisper, then a scream that always managed to _almost_ drown out the mean words and the mocking laughter and the haughty glares and everything else he hated. 

 

However, this time, Baekhyun cut that voice off. He drowned it out with other thoughts, hands trembling a little more on top of his still pajamas-clad thighs, as if he was about to explode and couldn’t calm himself down anymore now that his usual mantra was silence by his own means. Chanyeol was still observing him, still looking at him with those bright red eyes that almost glowed int he dim light of the living room, sparkling with amusement. His smile was dimmed down now but still there, as if he was taking pleasure from Baekhyun’s pain. It wouldn’t be the first time someone would’ve smiled at him like. 

 

It didn’t matter, though. It didn’t matter because this wasn’t his own world. This wasn’t a world full of human monsters and consequences and cowards and pain. This wasn’t his own world and those rules didn’t apply here.

"Why did you bring me here?" a low, sizzling voice finally broke the silence that hissed, almost like the low screech of a warm, burning surface on top of which cold water was suddenly poured. It took Baekhyun a few seconds to recognize his own voice. It sounded so foreign, so angry, so tired, and for the first time ever, he could even make out small crumbles of courage buried deep inside of it, easy to dig out but still holding onto it for dear life.

 

Chanyeol’s smile widened, his surprisingly pristine teeth almost twinkling against the blue of his skin. It angered Baekhyun further but somehow, not the same way Taeyong’s smile always used to anger him and make him hate the whole world in the span of a split second. This was different. This smile was different, not really sadistic or haughty, simply gently amused and almost curious. It was different, Taeyong’s smile had never once seemed kind to Baekhyun. Chanyeol’s smile had felt like a newfound anchor only minutes ago.

 

That image shattered once and for all as soon as the other spoke, his voice low with amusement, high with curiosity, and almost gentle with mockery as he pronounced those words. The words that Baekhyun had actually started to believe minutes ago.

 

"I saved you."

 

And Baekhyun couldn’t help but laugh, a small, tiny note that sliced through the air like a blade coated with the yellowish, lethal poison of mockery. That poison wasn’t for Chanyeol, it was for himself.

 

"You’re a monster," Baekhyun started, spitting those words out but keeping his voice low because despite everything, Baekhyun never talked back. He never talked back and didn't want to suffer the consequences but this time, Baekhyun almost wanted to draw the consequences to himself to end everything once and for all. He caught the corners of Chanyeol’s smile twitching, dropping down the slightest bit before curving up even higher. "You can’t save me. You don’t have any nice motive, you said it yourself. You didn't do this to save me," he repeated, pushing those words out of his mouth when they should’ve been obvious since the very beginning.

 

Chanyeol leaned forward a little bit, putting down his cup of tea. It was still full, just like Baekhyun's. The only difference was that Baekhyun had taken a sip while Chanyeol hadn’t, too busy observing Baekhyun.

 

"Well, I did save you," he said after a few seconds that Baekhyun was almost entirely sure he had let pass by simply to spite him. "You were praying every night for someone to save you. Which is stupid because if God was as merciful as you thought, I wouldn’t look like this, would I?" the other said, voice dripping with amusement. He was mocking Baekhyun for _believing._ He felt jolts of pain running through his whole hands, planted through the marks his nails were digging into the tender flesh of his palms.

 

"Why did you _save_ me then?" Baekhyun repeated, asked again because he needed to know. He needed to know even if his heart seemed to be aware of the answer already, crashing against his ribcage again and again as if it wanted to burst out of his chest and run far, far away from the monster grinning at him like a vicious madman.

 

Chanyeol’s grin widened even more if possible and he propped his elbow up on the table that swung a little bit on its uneven feet under his weight. He then leaned a cheek against his palm, crimson eyes boring into Baekhyun’s own eyes, gleaming brightly as if the flames of anger in the human’s orbs fueled the red sparkles in Chanyeol’s eyes. He looked so casual, almost cozy, as if he knew he had the upper hand. And he had. Baekhyun felt his blood boiling even more.

 

"I saved you," Chanyeol repeated like a broken, rusty record. "I helped you get rid of your monsters so you have to pay me back now."

 

And those words were enough for Baekhyun to finally understand, his back stiffening, shoulders tensing up as panic dug its claws right into his nape, rendering him unable to look away from Chanyeol.

 

"No," Baekhyun instantly barked out, shaking his head once, twice, thrice, for a few seconds, as if he was but a mere puppet led by the strings of the storm of feelings bursting inside of him. Panic, anger, refusal, betrayal, and humiliation. He should’ve learned. Chanyeol didn’t even flinch, his amused expression unchanging. "I never asked for this. I won’t pay you back. I never asked for any of this."

 

"Oh, but you did ask for this, remember?" Chanyeol simply said, raising an eyebrow. Then his eyes sparkled even more and Baekhyun felt shivers running down his spine, burning his skin like abnormally crimson-colored flames licking his skin. " _Would it be too much to ask you to take me away? You could just send someone. Anyone able to help me,"_ Chanyeol said, voice shaking, features twisted into a pout, chin trembling the slightest bit. 

 

It was easy to figure out what he was doing, who he was mimicking. Baekhyun felt humiliation fueling the fire already burning over every single inch of his body. 

 

"Those were your exact words. I honored your wish when nothing obligated me to do so. You have to pay me back now," Chanyeol continued, voice sliding back into a lower, more natural octave. His smile was still there. Blue and sharp-teethed. The smile of a monstrous creature. 

 

"I didn’t ask for _this,"_ Baekhyun repeated, voice higher, panic and anger and betrayal and humiliation coating up all over the words leaving his mouth and choking him up a bit. "Send me back home. I don’t want to be here. I never asked to be here," he said, words stumbling out of his mouth quickly, tripping over each other like frightened animals fleeing the flames devouring a forest that had once been their home.

 

He had never meant _this_ when asking to be taken away. Baekhyun had always believed that someone was listening to him whenever he was praying but he had never even thought that the only person listening to him would be a monster that would then drag him down to hell and lock him up and ask for payment. He didn’t even know what kind of payment Chanyeol could possibly want. Baekhyun had nothing in this world, he had even less in his possession than what he could’ve had back at home. What could he even ask for? Every single thing that came to his mind was horrifying.

 

His streak of panic was cut off when Chanyeol’s low, deceptively warm voice cut the silence again.

 

"Fine then," he simply said and Baekhyun swore he heard something in his neck crack when his head suddenly snapped up to look at the other. There was no smile anymore on his blue face.

 

"What?" Baekhyun stupidly said.

 

"You can leave," he shrugged nonchalantly, leaving Baekhyun even more dumbfounded. "You won’t be able to find your way back home alone but you can at least try surviving in a world full of ugly, scary, and monstrous creatures," he said, mockery back in his voice as his gaze seemed to travel over Baekhyun’s whole being, analyzing him in a way that let the other know he was nothing remotely close to impressed. Baekhyun felt the confusion edging away, the anger taking over again. "The door is there," Chanyeol continued, nodding towards his left, where the entrance door was. "I won’t force you to stay. You can leave and I’m sure you won’t stay alone for a long time. You’re human, you’ll draw company to yourself."

 

He smiled, revealing sharp teeth again along with the real meaning of his words. Baekhyun wouldn’t find nice company to himself. Chanyeol was letting him leave, he was letting him go out into a world full of monsters, a world Baekhyun wasn’t even sure how to leave. He didn't know if it was even possible for him to leave it, at this point. 

 

And yet, the anger was still there. In his head, whispering, its voice not even drowned out by the still higher screeches of the humiliation coursing through his whole body. It was there and Baekhyun was tired, tired of all of this, tired of this always happening to him so he listened to the first voice that screamed the loudest in his head. He took a last look at Chanyeol’s knowing smile, the mockery, the victory, and the haughtiness nestled in the corners of his pale lips, gleaming at him brightly through the sparkles on the tiny scales scattered over his cheeks.

 

He took a last look at him before his body seemed to take the decision for him, straightening up before he stood up in a sharp movement. For a few silent seconds, he stared down at Chanyeol who was still there, still sitting across from him, on the other side of the table, still looking up at him as if he knew exactly what Baekhyun’s next step would be. As if he expected Baekhyun to sit back down and do whatever he asked him to.

 

But Baekhyun was tired of this. He was tired of basing his decisions on consequences. He was tired of doing exactly what everyone expected him to do. He was tired of tilted his head down and keeping his gaze on the ground as he listened, listened, listened and did as told, no matter how much he wanted to fight back.

 

He wouldn’t do that this time.

 

This time, Baekhyun simply turned around and headed towards the door with long strides. The fear amplified with each step he took forward but Baekhyun tuned it out, keeping his eyes on the door, throwing his hand forward to grab the doorknob and tilt it down no matter how much he felt every single inch of his being telling him not to do so. It was stupid of him. He was at least mildly safe in this apartment, the outside world would be full with even more horrifying creatures and he wasn’t sure every single one of them would be able to listen and understand him like Chanyeol did. 

 

However, it didn’t matter because Baekhyun was tired of this and he wouldn’t let it happen and when he threw the door open, stepped out, and closed it right back behind him with a loud slam, he took a deep breath in. He hadn’t even noticed that he had been holding his breath during the few seconds it took him to walk out of the apartment.

 

His chest was heaving up and down, the air crowding into his lungs didn’t smell pleasant. It wasn’t really silent and peaceful all around him either, his ears kept picking on odd sounds, things that felt like groans and growls, voices that seemed to speak a human language but sounded too cave-like and scratchy for him to even attempt to understand what was exactly being said. The loudest sound amongst everything else, however, was the fast, erratic beat of his own heart against his ribcage. It beat with fear, trying to free itself of the last crumbles of panic caging it in without really succeeding.

 

And yet, panic wasn’t the main emotion wrapping all around him in the first few seconds after Baekhyun stepped out of Chanyeol’s apartment, nor was fear. The only thing he felt was pride. It was odd, maybe a little stupid, but Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel an unfamiliar sense of pride at the fact that despite everything, he had went against Chanyeol’s words and left. Even if Chanyeol had technically told him that he could leave and that he wouldn’t stop him. 

 

For the first time ever, he had done something without thinking of its consequences and how it could worsen his situation. For the first time ever, he hadn’t yielded to the humiliating words thrown at him by someone who did nothing but mock him, someone like his father, someone like Taeyong, or someone like Chanyeol. For the first time ever, Baekhyun had stood up for himself, even if the only thing he had done was say a few words of refusal and then run away as fast as he could. It was a small step and yet, Baekhyun felt his lips twitching with joy, an almost childlike sense of pride concerning something that seemed like such a simple action. 

 

Then, he looked around. It was dark. There was no light in the hallways of the building and on the way up here, Baekhyun had tripped a few times. Chanyeol hadn’t, pushing Baekhyun to wonder whether monsters could actually see in the dark or he was just too familiarized with the path to his home to ever trip on his way up the staircases. 

 

Baekhyun had never really been scared of the dark but now, as he glanced around, gaze continuously jumping all around him, he couldn't help but see and imagine small, monstrous creatures lurking against the walls. It wouldn’t be stupid, he was in a world full of monsters after all.

 

And then, he let out a small snort. He was in a building, he wasn’t outside and already, he felt terrified by the idea of confronting monsters. What would it be like when he walked out of this place and wandered around to search for a way back to the human world?

 

At that thought, he felt his heart freezing in his chest for a second, as if realization hit it with enough force to interrupt the fear and the joy and the panic it had been erratically beating with only seconds ago. How would he even find a way back home? The smile slipped off his face, his lips pressing into a tight line instead as he moved back and leaned his back against the very same door he had just slammed shut behind himself. How would he even survive outside? 

 

He had seen it. There had been a monster earlier that grabbed his wrist and smelled him and asked what he was. It had been a horrifying experience and that monster had looked huge, enough to crash Baekhyun under the weight of its disgusting body if he wanted to. Baekhyun didn't even want to imagine what would’ve happened to him had Chanyeol not been there at that time. But Chanyeol wouldn’t be with him if he stepped outside now. He would be at the mercy of all the creatures and Baekhyun wasn’t stupid, he wouldn’t let a foolish streak of courage and confidence let him believe that he would be able to fight off any creature crossing his path in a world full of them.

 

Right at that second, he heard the muffled sound of footsteps slowly growing louder. His gaze snapped up at once, focusing on the staircase that would lead to the floors right above them. It was dark and he couldn’t see but his heart jumped in his chest at the obvious sign of someone coming down the stairs. He tried stepping back, only then remembering that he was already leaning against the hard surface of the door. Fear instantly spread through him like tiny particles of ice, tiny frozen creatures biting into every single inch of his skin with their icy teeth as soon as he could make out a pair of abnormally long legs coming down the stairs. The next thing he saw was entirely white eyes, as if they were coated by a thick coat of snow, and a sharp-teethed smile.

 

The creature silently walked right past him, not even glancing at him but still smiling to itself as it continued on its path and stepped down the stairs. It glanced at Baekhyun over its bony shoulder and the latter felt an electric jolt jumping through his whole body. 

 

Right then and there, Baekhyun took a decision. A decision that might be foolish but that would certainly be less foolish than adventuring out into this unknown, frightening world he might not be able to win over on his own. 

 

Before he could even stop himself, he turned around. His hand shot up and he knocked on the door thrice, each of those loud thumps echoing loudly in his own head like the discouraged fall of his pride and the victory of defeat and humiliation instead. He had no choice. This was the safest, wisest thing to do. Maybe he could negotiate, maybe he could talk Chanyeol into sending him back home. It would be much smarter than throwing himself in a monster’s den. 

 

It didn’t even take a second for the door to open, as if Chanyeol had been waiting for him to knock right on the other side all along. As soon as the wooden surface was pulled open to reveal a wide, victorious smile, Baekhyun felt utterly stupid and humiliated, like a foolish coward whose tiny surge of courage had only led to his demise. And Chanyeol knew. He had known this would be the outcome. He had known Baekhyun would have no choice but to come back to him only mere minutes after leaving.

 

He pulled the door open wider after a few seconds spent observing Baekhyun with those red eyes that glowed with amusement and victory while Baekhyun made sure not to ever cross his gaze, unwilling to humiliate himself further. He stepped inside, his body relaxing the slightest bit now that he knew he was in an actually closed space, safe from hostile and heartless creatures. Or at least safe from the rest of those creatures except for the owner of his only mildly safe space at the moment.

 

He heard the door closing behind him with finality and Baekhyun, who was left to drown in the onslaught of pathetic feelings that overwhelmed him, thought for the first time that everything he had known until tonight meant nothing. Hell wasn’t made of flames and burning souls. God wasn’t as merciful and kind as his mother had described him to be. That had been nothing but yet another lie that she left him with after disappearing from his life. The devil wasn’t a red-skinned creature with horns, a sharp tail, and a calculating, evil mind.

 

The devil was nothing but a tall, blue-skinned monster with a wide smile and big ears that looked torn around the edges.

 

And Baekhyun was the stupid prey stuck in a world full of monsters, about to sign a pact with the blue-skinned devil himself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun had never been a heavy sleeper. He had never been a light sleeper either, he was stuck in the middle of it, just like he was always stuck between a lot of things he couldn’t find the strength to disentangle himself from.

 

He had never been a light sleeper but that night, it had been difficult to sleep when all he could hear were bestial groans coming from under the broken window of the room Chanyeol had at least been considerate enough to let him sleep in last night. He had almost thought that the other had done this on purpose, wanting him to get sick from the wind that could seep into the room from the broken window but he had been surprised to find that the room didn’t feel particularly cold. It didn’t feel particularly warm either, just like the air outside, and Baekhyun figured out that it made sense for Hell not to really have any kind of weather. 

 

Either way, he hadn’t slept well, too afraid to close his eyes for more than a few seconds, expecting monsters to surge up from under the bed, break into the room through the window, or even the blue-skinned monster himself running into the room in the middle of the night and somehow strangling him. None of that happened though, and Baekhyun had managed to fall asleep what he supposed was a few hours after going to bed, since there was no means of measuring time here, at least as far as he knew.

 

He had never been a light sleeper but somehow, that morning, Baekhyun could _feel_ it. He could feel something on him, something heavy, something unbudging, something that sent unpleasant shivers down his spine even as his mind remained unconscious and his body asleep. He could feel it and slowly, as if that could even help, he turned, tossing his head around to face the other way even as his back remained flat against the uncomfortable mattress of the very uncomfortable bed he had spent the night on. It almost felt like he couldn’t move. Like there was not enough room for him to move anything other than his head which he did, hoping he would slide back into slumber.

 

However, it didn’t work. His eyes were closed but he could still feel something looking at him, something watching him and bit by bit, it drew him out of his slumber. It took only a few more seconds of internal struggle for Baekhyun’s body to wake up a little bit more and soon, he came to realize that it was windy. He could feel the light breeze falling over the skin of his chin, tickling him unpleasantly and waking him up way sooner than he would’ve liked to. It didn't make sense though. There was no wind in this place called the Cave. There was no sun, no clouds, no wind, no rain, as far as he knew, so it didn’t make sense for Baekhyun to suddenly feel the wind caressing his face when it had never happened until now. Was there sand in the room? He could feel the wind throwing tiny particles of sand against his skin.

 

He could feel his eyebrows furrowing a little and finally, the last link that tied Baekhyun to a dreamless sleep snapped and slowly, his eyes fluttered open only to instantly close back when he felt something like dust dripping into his eyes. It didn’t make sense. Even if it was windy, the wind wasn’t strong enough to carry dust or sand around inside a house. It didn’t even feel like the wind, it didn’t ruffle his hair or made him want to burrow further under the measly, thin blanket Chanyeol had thrown at him last night. 

 

It wasn’t wind. It couldn’t be wind and as his heart trembled hesitantly in his chest, Baekhyun forced his eyes to open up and instantly, they widened just as his heart froze against his ribcage at the sight of black, deep be ads staring right into his own eyes. The only thing he registered was powder, white powder, white, colorless skin, black beady eyes, and powder dusting over his chin before he parted his lips in a loud, frightened wail while his body reacted on its own and sprung up, his hands pushing against a hard, bony chest to get the creature off him.

 

Heart beating widely in his throat, Baekhyun scrambled to sit up and press his back against the cold, hard surface of the wall, his hands still stretched out in front of him as his wide eyes stared at the creature that had been almost entirely on top of him only seconds ago. His stomach churned with nausea, chest heaving up and down wildly, as he took in the monster’s appearance. It was dressed normally like any other human being, just like Chanyeol was, only with a few holes in the black shirt and in his worn out jeans but Baekhyun didn’t even have the occasion nor the heart to linger on the way monsters seemed to dress in this world.

 

The only thing he could see was the powder. It was white, it looked thick and thin at the same time, like dust and sand mixed in together, like crushed pills or any kind of powdered drug Baekhyun had ever caught glimpses of in his life. It was all over the black shirt, turning it grey in some spots, but the most horrifying thing about it was that it seemed to literally pour out of the creature’s white skin. It almost looked like the color of eggshells but from how hard the other’s body had felt against Baekhyun’s hands, he supposed it was closer to the color of bones, entirely white and powdery, contrasting in a disturbing way with the entirely black eyes that didn’t even seem to have pupils. 

 

Even the lips were pale, a slightly more lively shade of white but still very pale and curled into a smile that somehow didn’t even look purposeful, as if it was just the natural shape of the monster’s lips, but at the same time, it looked way too amused for it not to be an actual smile. Baekhyun parted his lips, wanting to ask the creature what it was doing here but nothing but unintelligible sounds escaped him as he took in the once again very human looking monster still perched at the other end of the bed after giving him the most horrifying awakening of his life.

 

Then, the most unexpected thing happened. The monster simply widened his smile until creases appeared around his lips, as if the skin was hard and difficult to pull, before without any word, without any explanation, he simply started laughing. The sound was loud, almost like a cackle, too loud and amused and Baekhyun, still scared, couldn’t help but stare in confusion at the scene played out under his eyes.

 

It went on for a few seconds, the monster simply laughing, enough for Baekhyun to slowly grown from confused and frightened to plain irritated because he obviously was laughing at Baekhyun, mocking him, and somehow, that made him a little more human in the latter’s eyes.

 

He turned his attention away from the irritatingly loud and amused monster when his ears picked on the small croak of the door being pushed open to reveal Chanyeol. He seemed confused for a second as he looked at the powdery creature before his gaze found Baekhyun and whatever he seemed to see on his face seemed to enlighten him because his lips twitched up in amusement for a second before he frowned.

 

Baekhyun grew even more irritated at the sight of the blue monster, last night's events all coming back to him. However, before he could say or do anything, Chanyeol spoke and finally, the other creature’s laughter came to an end.

 

"Jongdae," he called out and it was weird that every monster seemed to have an actual name but it made sense, they had all been human at some point. Baekhyun looked back at the powdery creature, _Jongdae,_ whose laughter still rang in his ears even if it had stopped. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked but the tone used seemed to indicate that Chanyeol knew exactly what Jongdae had been doing.

 

"What?" the other replied, and if he had pupils, Baekhyun had a feeling he would’ve rolled them in exasperation as he sat up properly again on the bed and looked at the other. Chanyeol raised an eyebrow. "No one gets scared of monsters here! I had to take the opportunity to live up to my name at least once in this… deathtime?" he said after a second of thought before promptly bursting into laughter again at his own joke.

 

Suddenly, he didn’t seem scary at all. Just mostly exasperating, at the moment, and Chanyeol seemed to share the same thought because Baekhyun heard him snort and when he managed to drag his gaze away form Jongdae and back at him, he was shaking his head with a light smile. Baekhyun wasn’t sure whether it was fondness, amusement, or mockery that pulled the corners of his lips up.

 

Then, he stepped closer and Baekhyun observed him curiously as he grabbed Jongdae’s arm and pulled him off the bed, the latter frowning like a child dragged away from his newfound toy but remaining silent and obedient. Maybe it was because Chanyeol was much taller than him and maybe if he was made of powder, it would be easy to hurt him. Baekhyun wasn’t sure how this worked exactly but at the very least, they looked close. He wouldn’t be in Chanyeol’s house first thing in the morning if they weren’t friends. 

 

"Are you okay?" 

 

Baekhyun was pulled out of his thoughts by Chanyeol’s low, surprisingly gentle voice. It was gentle and yet, Baekhyun felt spikes of anger pushing out of his skin and piercing through him painfully. He almost laughed at the question Chanyeol had the nerve of throwing him after everything that had happened since last night but he simply settled on glaring at him instead.

 

"I am," he replied, almost like a challenge. It wasn’t exactly an honest answer but Baekhyun was decided not to seem so vulnerable and weak in front of the other anymore after last night. He wasn’t going to make it so easy for Chanyeol to take advantage of him anymore.

 

Chanyeol simply snorted again, as if he knew exactly what Baekhyun was thinking and the latter felt offended, sharpening his glare a little bit more.

 

"Alright," Jongdae broke the silence, drawing out the last syllable of the word as if he was aware of how awkward this situation was but still felt amused by it, judging by his dusty smile. "Looks like he’s a sulky and grumpy one in the morning. Let’s go before he kills us with that glare," he said while turning to Chanyeol before bursting into laughter again. Chanyeol remained unamused but Jongdae didn’t seem to mind because he shrugged, remains of laughter in his voice. "That joke never gets old."

 

Chanyeol, still very much unamused, grabbed his arm again and pulled him out of the room in a matter of seconds. Suddenly, Baekhyun was left alone with silence and his own confusion as it was still a bit difficult to process such a lively scene in his only half-awake mind.

 

He sighed and let himself drop back against the uncomfortable mattress, taking a few seconds to sort everything out in his head. A powdery monster that seemed to be the slightest bit insane was friends with a blue monster that seemed rather sadistic and heartless. Wonderful.

 

Well, not heartless enough to make Baekhyun sleep on the floor, he supposed but still, the few minutes they had spent together last night after Baekhyun had came back into the apartment hadn’t been particularly pleasant. Baekhyun at least hoped that the couch in the living room had been uncomfortable to sleep on. Not that Chanyeol looked particularly grumpy or annoyed either even if he had seemed a bit less smily and amused than last night. Baekhyun supposed it had to do with the fact that Jongdae had found him. Not that it would make sense for Chanyeol to hide him after the time they had spent outside yesterday.

 

Either way, Baekhyun enjoyed his few minutes of peace before forcing himself to stand up. He was hungry and maybe there would be food for him. Chanyeol had given him clothes last night after telling him that he could take a shower and Baekhyun had ignored him out of spite  but now, the thought of taking a shower felt particularly appealing. It was also a bit weird that Chanyeol treated him so nicely while very much keeping him here against his will.

 

Not giving it much thought, Baekhyun simply stood up and walked to the second door in the room that would lead to the bathroom. It was much cleaner than he expected it to be even if it still wasn’t the most luxurious bathroom he had ever seen and Baekhyun quickly shed his clothes — his own pajamas — and hopped into the bathtub, not exactly comforted by the fact that he was naked in a world full of monsters.

 

As soon as the water rained over his body, it suddenly made sense that Chanyeol had nicely offered him to shower last night. The water was freezing, almost causing him to slip and fall out of surprise, and remained cold all throughout his shower, not warming up for a single second.

 

It made sense. Dead people probably didn’t need to shower with warm water, they probably didn’t even feel the cold since technically, their bodies should be permanently cold, and yet, Baekhyun cursed Chanyeol under his breath while almost scratching his skin off in his haste to finish washing up quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Baekhyun stepped into the kitchen, hair still damp and Chanyeol’s clothes a bit too baggy on his shorter body, at least half of the irritation he had woken up with disappeared at the sight that greeted him and somehow, he wondered if the reputation given to monsters hidden under people’s beds was false all along. That was exactly what it looked like at the moment.

 

Jongdae was seated at the tiny table in the middle of the kitchen — this one looked much less broken that the one in the living room — and Chanyeol was on his feet, leaning against the counter as he frowned down at the pale-skinned monster. They were arguing. That in itself shouldn’t be much of a surprise, people always argued and he supposed monsters could too, but the subject of their argument was what left Baekhyun almost speechless. They were arguing about the proper way of pouring milk over a bowl of cereals, Jongdae fiercely telling the other that the milk should be poured before the cornflakes while Chanyeol seemed to think that Jongdae was crazy, arguing back that the milk should come after the cereals.

 

Baekhyun observed them for a few seconds, not sure whether he was supposed to laugh or cry at their behavior. There wasn’t even milk on the table, Jongdae was eating his cereals _without_ milk, bringing spoonfuls of dry cornflakes into his mouth and munching down on them angrily. This argument didn’t even make sense.

 

"Do dead people even need to eat?" Baekhyun eventually spoke out once the surprise had worn off and they both seemed to be too focused on their argument to even notice his presence.

 

The effect was instantaneous, Chanyeol’s gaze snapped to him in surprise and Jongdae coughed loudly, choking on his dry, crunchy cornflakes and laughing at the same time which probably worsened his case. Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel a little self-conscious about what he had just asked but at least, it didn’t seem to offend anyone.

 

"No, we don’t get affected by hunger," Jongdae replied after the few seconds it took him to calm down. Baekhyun could almost feel flattered, it looked like he had taken his question as a joke and truthfully, no one really laughed at Baekhyun’s jokes so it felt a tiny little bit nice. Not that he had intended it to turn into a joke.

 

"It must be nice," he mumbled as he stepped closer a bit hesitantly, not sure whether he should take a seat or not.

 

Chanyeol seemed to catch on his dilemma because their eyes met and his red ones sparkled with that same, almost offensive amusement. Baekhyun threw him a small glare, furrowing his eyebrows as he quickly took a seat across Jongdae. He wasn’t really sure why but everything somehow felt like a challenge with Chanyeol.

 

"I guess it is," Jongdae shrugged and Baekhyun looked at him again even if he could still feel Chanyeol observing him. He probably was inwardly laughing at the knowledge that Baekhyun had taken a cold shower, that asshole. Jongdae shoved another spoonful of cornflakes into his mouth before speaking. "We pretty much don’t get affected by anything. We don’t feel cold or hungry. We don’t even really feel pain unless it’s something _really_ bad, like a knife through the brain or something. It’s also a given that we don’t die, just deteriorate maybe," Jongdae shrugged and Baekhyun wasn’t really sure whether he felt more horrified by his words or the powder dripping directly from his face to his bowl of cereal.

 

"Yeah, I heard you turn into another kind of monsters, right?" he asked, purposely not pronouncing Chanyeol’s name. He heard another snort but didn’t even glance at the other. He wondered if snorting was part of his monstrous existence or if he was just being an asshole. Probably the latter.

 

"Right," Jongdae merely said, as if he didn’t really want to delve into that topic. It wasn’t surprising, everyone seemed to be a bit uncomfortable about that topic, even Chanyeol. "So yeah, eating and drinking is more of a luxury for us. Or a hobby," he added before shoveling more powdered cornflakes into his mouth. Baekhyun tried not to look.

 

"But since I’m kind," Chanyeol interjected before anyone could say anything else and Baekhyun finally looked at the other, "I made you pancakes. You know, to honor my Charming Prince title."

 

He was holding in a plate of what indeed looked like pancakes and Baekhyun hadn’t even glanced at him once ever since he had taken a seat at the table but he had heard the characteristic sound of cooking while talking to Jongdae so it didn’t come off as a surprise that Chanyeol had cooked. The only surprising thing about this was that he was holding out the plate to Baekhyun, his lips curled into a wide smile, as if he knew he had surprised him.

 

Baekhyun eyed the pancakes with suspicion. It didn’t make sense that Chanyeol had cooked for him. It wasn’t even for him, there were too many pancakes which meant that he had probably cooked this for everyone and not specifically for Baekhyun. He wasn’t sure whether he should eat it or not, his pride stood in front of him, barring the path the pancakes could take into his stomach but at the same time, he was very hungry.

 

It also looked nice. Baekhyun hadn’t had pancakes in years. He usually never ate breakfast but he hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday’s lunch at school and he could almost feel his stomach eating itself up, shrinking in hunger. 

 

Chanyeol seemingly took the decision for him, rolling his red eyes before stepping closer and sliding a few pancakes into the plate right in front of Baekhyun. The latter remained silent, observing the food as Chanyeol moved to take a seat next to Jongdae. He was thankful he hadn’t chosen to sit next to him.

 

He supposed he could eat. Or at least taste it, maybe Chanyeol had made it disgusting on purpose.

 

"I’m such an amazing Prince Charming, you’re welcome," Chanyeol snorted when Baekhyun remained silent, gaze still focused on his plate.

 

He could feel Jongdae’s gaze on him too, he could also hear the continuous crunching of the cornflakes in his mouth but the latter seemed to simply observe the scene displayed to him.

 

And Baekhyun really didn’t know why Chanyeol kept insisting on this whole Prince Charming thing but it was starting to get really annoying.

 

"You look more like the Smurf King rather than a Prince Charming," he mumbled under his breath as he pulled the plate closer to him, unable to keep that thought in.

 

Jongdae promptly burst into laughter but Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol instead, satisfaction spreading through him at once when he saw the offended furrow of his eyebrows. He looked like he really hadn’t expected Baekhyun to say something like that and oddly, that felt nice. He was a little proud of himself because even if he was aware that this could turn into a childish argument, he still had talked back to the other. 

 

Silently, he grabbed his fork and knife and started cutting a small piece of pancake while still observing Chanyeol who was glaring daggers at Jongdae until he stopped laughing. This felt nice. Baekhyun had never tasted this feeling and out of all people, it might be foolish to talk back to a monster but somehow, Baekhyun knew that he had nothing to lose anymore.

 

"You’re the one short enough to pass off as a Smurf," Chanyeol threw back at him once he was over the effect of Baekhyun’s words. Jongdae choked on his cereals again before laughing even more.

 

"You’re the one with blue skin," Baekhyun snorted. "And scales. You’re a whole new species of Smurf."

 

"And what are you? That ugly, stupid guy who always gets humiliated by those Smurfs?"

 

"At least I don’t look like the poor result of a threesome between a human, a snake, and a fucking Smurf."

 

"This is better than paying the smugglers for movies from the Above," Jongdae half coughed, half laughed, cutting their childish argument off and leaving them to glare at each other instead.

 

This was ridiculous. Baekhyun knew their argument was ridiculous and beyond childish, they were simply insulting each other through a children’s cartoon and yet, he could still feel irritation and anger cutting through every inch of his being. Or maybe that didn’t even come from him, maybe it came from Chanyeol’s red eyes glaring at him like two deadly laser shots.

 

Chanyeol scowled at him a last time before looking down at his plate and shoveling almost half of an entire pancake into his mouth, still throwing glares at Baekhyun from time to time. Out of spite, Baekhyun followed him and ate those damn pancakes Chanyeol had probably cooked for him simply because Baekhyun had to repay him and a weak human would be a useless human to him. Baekhyun didn’t want to eat, he had already lost his appetite but somehow, this felt like another challenge so he kept silent and continued shoveling the food down his throat.

 

"So," Jongdae said after a few seconds of awkward silence full with jolts of anger exchanged between brown and red eyes. "Is anyone going to tell me what a Smurf is though?"

 

"You don’t know what a Smurf is?" Baekhyun couldn’t help but blurt out.

 

"Of course he doesn’t know, he’s been here since before Smurfs were even created," Chanyeol snorted _again,_ still glaring at Baekhyun.

 

The latter chose to ignore him, focusing on Jongdae’s still very much amused expression instead as he explained him what a Smurf was. The other seemed a bit too amazed by a children’s cartoon before explaining that he had indeed died way before that cartoon was created, which came as a surprise to Baekhyun because Jongdae looked really young, older than him probably but still around Chanyeol’s age. Baekhyun only felt mildly surprised to find out that Jongdae had died really young and that obviously, no one aged after death.

 

The only dead thing about Jongdae was his skin tone, however, the rest of him was very much lively and almost energetic. They engaged into many conversations after that, all the while still eating, and it was pleasant but Baekhyun knew the fact that Chanyeol remained entirely silent through it all was the main reason why it was pleasant. Jongdae talked almost without taking any break, jumping from one topic to the other, not discriminating any subject and even going as far as explaining why he looked like this without Baekhyun even asking him what his sin was. 

 

Jongdae’s friendly, comfortable image slightly dropped after the revelation, however. Baekhyun wasn’t really sure he could trust someone who used to sell fake medication to gravely ill people at a price slightly lower than what you could find in drugstores but still very high. High enough for these sick people not to be able to buy real medication after realizing that something was wrong with what Jongdae sold them and end up dying. It explained the powdery skin and Baekhyun felt almost proud of himself for having associated Jongdae’s appearance to crushed pills at the first glimpse of him.

 

"I hope this idiot here doesn’t make your stay here unenjoyable," Jongdae said at the first lull in the conversation, after a few seconds of entire silence. "How do your lively human soul finds it here?"

 

"Well, I’m still half-convinced that this is all a nightmare," Baekhyun shrugs, choosing not to reply to the other's first words to avoid another argument with Chanyeol.

 

"You’re either delusional or you mean my pancakes are too good to be real," Chanyeol interjected casually and it took everything in Baekhyun to stay calm. There was not even any real trace of amusement in the other’s voice this time and the thought that he had taken the whole Smurf conversation to heart lingered over Baekhyun. It didn’t feel unpleasant.

 

"You made it from pre-made pancake mix, don’t give yourself too much credit," he snapped. He didn’t know what Chanyeol insisted on talking to him if it wasn't to say anything pleasant.

 

"I wish you would’ve talked back like that to your father," Chanyeol simply said, without any particular kind of emotion in his voice and instantly, Baekhyun froze.

 

The pancakes didn’t taste that good in his mouth anymore and he looked at Chanyeol, seeing his raised eyebrow and still hearing his words echo in his head. 

 

He was right.

 

This wasn’t Baekhyun. He didn’t even know where this sudden confidence was coming from. He didn’t even know where he found it in himself to actually talk to Chanyeol that way and defend himself and stand up for himself and this was so unusual that at those words, he felt himself shrinking a little bit. 

 

Consequences. He couldn’t forget the consequences. There would always be consequences and Baekhyun should always be wary of them.

 

"I’m sorry."

 

Those words slipped out of his mouth before he even realized it, in a soft mumble. It almost felt humiliating, very pathetic, especially when he heard Chanyeol snort again but Baekhyun couldn’t help it. That was the way it had always been and he didn’t know why he had forgotten everything he had learned until now but as soon as Chanyeol cruelly reminded it to him, he felt that slightly braver and reckless part of himself dim down a little bit until he had a hard time grasping it and preventing it from completely leaving him.

 

He pushed the plate of pancakes away. He had definitely lost his appetite now and somehow, the whole room seemed to have lost a little bit of the liveliness it had kept even when he had been childishly arguing with Chanyeol only minutes ago. Jongdae continuously glanced between them. Chanyeol continued eating but a single quick glance was quick for Baekhyun to note that his jawline was tense and that he was munching on the food almost aggressively. He didn’t know if that was anger, he didn’t know what kind of anger it was either.

 

Once again, Jongdae was the one to break the silence almost a whole minute later.

 

"So," he said, once again starting his sentence with that word. Maybe it was a habit. "I hope no one tried eating you at least."

 

"Someone did try but I swooped in to save him," Chanyeol replied and there it was, that same amusement in his voice. Oddly, it made Baekhyun feel a little better. Almost like a challenge, once again. Almost like he was challenging Baekhyun to say the contrary. He seemed to forget what had been said a minute ago but Baekhyun hadn’t, his skin still itchy and uncomfortable as if this wasn’t his own body. 

 

"That’s your responsibility and the least you could do after bringing a human into this world," Jongdae said before Baekhyun gathered strength to say anything. It was a bit odd but Baekhyun almost felt like he was scolding Chanyeol.

 

"Well, he didn’t die for now, did he? I’m doing great."

 

"You would’ve been doing great if no one had noticed him yet alone tried eating him," Jongdae retorted.

 

"We were in public," Chanyeol argued with a frown and Baekhyun glanced between the two of them.

 

"You didn't even cloak him up?" Jongdae asked, the accusation in his voice almost hinting that he knew the answer already. Maybe he wasn’t as heartless as Baekhyun thought. This felt nice and unfamiliar.

 

"I don’t exactly walk around carrying a cloak, Jongdae."

 

"You should take care of someone if you need them," Baekhyun eventually said, now that he felt a bit better and like himself again.

 

Chanyeol raised an eyebrow but surprisingly didn’t say anything mean. Maybe he had noticed that his words had affected Baekhyun badly. Or maybe Baekhyun was just being silly and burying himself in wishful thinking again.

 

"How do you know I need you?" he asked.

 

"I’m not stupid," Baekhyun said. He had acted foolish yesterday but after what had happened, he had spent a majority of the night thinking about this. Chanyeol hadn’t really given him the real reason why he had brought him here — he didn’t believe in the whole _I saved you_ thing the other seemed to have going on — but it wasn’t difficult to figure it out now. "If you brought me here, it isn’t to make yourself a friend as you said it yourself so kindly last night. You need me for something. I’d like to know what it is."

 

Chanyeol simply looked at him for a few silent seconds and for the first time since Baekhyun met him, he actually looked serious. Maybe even a bit worried, judging by the way he was biting onto his lower lip with his sharp teeth that surprisingly didn’t slice right through the flesh. He pulled his gaze away from the teeth when he heard Jongdae humming a little bit. He had a frown on, directed at Chanyeol.

 

"So that’s why," he simply said and somehow, he looked like he had figured out something that was far from being pleasant.

 

Baekhyun felt the slightest tinge of uneasiness settle in his stomach when he saw the way Chanyeol glanced at Jongdae once before avoiding his gaze and looking back at him instead.

 

"We’re going on an adventure together," he simply said and once again, there was no emotion on his face or voice. And yet, Baekhyun somehow knew he wasn't supposed to like that answer.

 

"What?" was the only thing he could bring himself to say. 

 

"I'm going to turn back into a human," Chanyeol simply said and once again, his features held no particular emotion. It was odd and probably on purpose.

 

And yet, Baekhyun felt himself filling up with surprise at those words.

 

"Is that even possible?" he asked, completely taken aback by that answer. 

 

"Yes. Well, even if I can’t turn back into an actual human being I know that I can at least get my human appearance back," he answered and now, he had an eyebrow raised, his eyes boring into Baekhyun’s with what seemed to be a crimson threat. As if he dared Baekhyun to comment on it, as if he already braced himself for words he had already heard from others.

 

He was surprised. He had never expected Chanyeol to say such things and he didn’t understand why. It didn’t even make sense.

 

"How?" he asked instead of voicing out his real questions.

 

"There’s a legend that says a monster managed to turn back into his original human appearance with the help of a human. I’m not sure how they did it but I know someone who can give us all the information we need and we’re going to find him. He’s far from here and it won’t be easy but we’ll do it."

 

"How difficult is it going to be?" Baekhyun asked, teeth nibbling on his lower lip in discomfort and worry.

 

"We might have to battle a few monsters and lose a few limbs but we’ll do it," Chanyeol shrugged, still looking too casual about this. Almost too casual for it be believable.

 

Baekhyun glanced at Jongdae who remained silent, simply looking at Chanyeol with a frown. It didn’t seem to be his first time hearing this. Chanyeol seemed to have planned this all along and Baekhyun had been right, he needed a human for this. That was the only reason why he had brought Baekhyun down here.

 

"It sounds dangerous," Baekhyun said through gritted teeth. He didn’t know how he felt. If it was anger, refusal, worry, or something completely different.

 

"Well, do you want to leave this world or not?" Chanyeol raised an eyebrow and Baekhyun felt his breath hitching at the mere mention of going back home. "I’ll send you back once we’re done with this and I get what I want."

 

Baekhyun felt Jongdae’s gaze on him. He looked and the other turned his eyes away, looking back at Chanyeol with an even deeper frown. Baekhyun gulped the lump in his throat down.

 

"You can send me back?"

 

"I brought you in, didn’t I?" Chanyeol simply said, still looking right into his eyes.

 

And really, Baekhyun didn’t have the choice. He wanted to leave. He wanted to go back home, no matter how shitty it was back there. He didn’t even mean his father’s house by _home,_ he just needed to go back to his own world. He wanted to leave. Away and far from this blue-skinned monster who had dragged him here and turned his whole life even more hellish than it already was in less than twenty four hours.

 

He didn’t have the choice. He could read it in Chanyeol’s eyes. Baekhyun was nothing. He was just a useful card in the scheme of everything. Chanyeol didn’t need _him,_ he just needed a human and Baekhyun knew that it wouldn’t be too farfetched to think that if he were to refuse, Chanyeol could simply tell him to leave again before bringing in another random human into this world. That was exactly what the serious lines on his features were telling.

 

He didn’t have a choice. He wanted to go back.

 

He sighed, raising a hand up to run it over his face.

 

"Fine," he eventually said after a few seconds, head swarming with thoughts and lower lip chapped from how much his teeth had bit into the skin.

 

Jongdae remained silent. Chanyeol’s lips curled up widely to reveal his sharp teeth, victory dripping from his red eyes to his smile like drops of blood staining a corpse. Baekhyun hated that smile.

 

They all remained silent for a few seconds during which Baekhyun told himself that it would be okay. It wouldn’t take long. He just had to follow Chanyeol and do as he said for a while before the other obtained whatever he wanted, gained his human appearance back, and sent him back to the Above. He didn’t understand how they would make that happen and why Chanyeol was even going to such extremes to make that happen but he would do it. He could do it.

 

Then, a question popped up in his mind.

 

"How come it's even possible for me to be here?" he asked, eyebrows furrowed. "I mean, how is there even a way for monsters to travel to the human world and humans to fall down here?"

 

"There’s a breach," Jongdae said, finally speaking up. His features had fallen back into a more relaxed expression, lips curled into that same smile. He wondered if all monsters smiled like that and if it was a way for them to destabilize their victims.

 

"How come there’s a breach then?" he asked when no one said anything to explain things further.

 

"Our Queen created it," Chanyeol replied this time. His smile was less destabilizing now but still very much amused. Baekhyun still couldn’t bear to look at it without irritation twisting in his stomach.

 

And Baekhyun wasn't sure whether this was just some kind of sick, twisted joke but Chanyeol’s smile seemed to tell him he was being serious. Which didn’t make sense, smiles never made people look serious. Baekhyun didn’t even know how he could still find it in himself to be surprised at everything happening in this world.

 

And yet, he deadpanned, "You have a Queen."

 

"Yep," Chanyeol shrugged, smile widening, scales sparkling, and teeth gleaming. "And you’re about to meet her."

 

As always, he smile indicated Baekhyun that he had no say in this. This time, Baekhyun wasn’t surprised. He was learning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"What are you thinking about?" Jongdae asks almost half an hour later, when they aren’t seated around a table eating pancakes and cornflakes but outside, surrounded by monsters and tall buildings and other half-ruined structures.

 

Baekhyun adjusts the hood of his cloak, trying his best not to step on the dark fabric as they walked a bit too fast. Chanyeol was in front of them, a few steps away, and Baekhyun was only mildly reassured to note that he didn’t wait for both his and Jongdae’s shorter legs to catch up to him the same way he hadn't waited for Baekhyun yesterday.

 

The cloak was almost too big on him, floating around his body and giving him a difficult time when walking but at least, the various monsters he saw around him didn’t even spare him a single glance. That didn’t help appease the heart that had been beating wildly in fear against his ribcage since the moment he had stepped out of Chanyeol’s apartment but at least, he had less chances of experiencing anything too bad.

 

He glanced at Chanyeol, at the silver hair that seemed to absorb the yellowish lights of the tall lampposts all around them — Baekhyun didn’t even question how they worked — and at the relaxed line of his broad shoulders.

 

"I could find the portal myself," he replied, lowering his voice as if sharing a secret with Jongdae. A thought that he knew didn’t make sense but that had still been floating over his head since Chanyeol had told him he would send him back home at some point.

 

Jongdae snorted. It felt much less unpleasant than when Chanyeol snorted.

 

"Good luck with that," he sighed, looking in front of him, at Chanyeol, again. "Only a few people know about the locations of the few portals scattered around. Even I have no idea where any of them are."

 

"Then how come Chanyeol knows?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows but almost relieved. At least now, he knew that it was next to impossible to get out of this world on his own and that it wasn’t just his own cowardice stopping him.

 

It took Jongdae a few seconds to answer, his lips pursed, white powder dripping off the corner of his mouth. "He made a deal with the Queen." 

 

Baekhyun didn't know if he was surprised by that. Chanyeol seemed to have planned every single thing about this with the only aim of gaining a human appearance back so it wasn’t surprising of him to go as far as making a deal with who seemed to be a powerful and maybe a bit frightening Queen. 

 

Baekhyun had asked them why they were bringing him to see the Queen and the answer he had gotten was that everyone _had_ to go and see the Queen today because once a week, there was some sort of meeting where she would sometimes speak to her subjects and sometimes simply show them her presence. 

 

The fact that there was even a _Queen_ in the after-life didn’t even make sense to begin with. It was a place and a concept that had been abstract until now but that was very much real and supposed to be ruled over by no one but God, as far as he knew, and it just didn’t make sense. Moreover, that Queen seemed a bit too cruel, Baekhyun had been told that attending these meetings once a week was mandatory and that if you weren’t there, you would be severely punished. He had stopped asking questions after that.

 

The whole ordeal just seemed odd to him, especially since Jongdae had told him those breaches between the two worlds were used by smugglers and the Queen herself but not personally. It was confusing, very confusing, and Baekhyun’s curiosity about this was just as confusing but he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of deal Chanyeol had passed with her.

 

"You two are so slow," Chanyeol’s deep voice cut him off before he could even voice out his question and when Baekhyun looked in front of him again, he was standing much closer to them than before and had stopped walking.

 

"Maybe you’re just too fast," Jongdae said, voicing Baekhyun’s thoughts out in a much more amused and lighter tone.

 

Chanyeol gave him a playfully exasperated look before meeting Baekhyun’s eyes. The latter had been unconsciously observing him, trying to come up with the answer to his own unvoiced question.

 

"We’re here," Chanyeol simply told him and Baekhyun snapped out of his thoughts, furrowing his eyebrows and looking over Chanyeol’s shoulder instead, his eyes widening the slightest bit at what stood behind the tall monster.

 

Despite knowing that they were about to see a Queen, Baekhyun hadn’t really expected to be faced with an actual castle. He wasn’t even sure whether he could call it a castle or not, it mostly looked like a mansion built in a deep and intimidating structure that reduced the most beautiful gothic architectures in the Above to nothing. Its façade was intimidatingly dark and oppressing, painting in charcoal, and even if it was still far from where they stood and looked very small for now, Baekhyun felt uneasiness creeping down his spine. 

 

It was huge even from outside, it seemed to stretch in hundreds of rooms, was made of a few towers circling the castle in itself, all pointy and tall enough for Baekhyun to know he would break his neck looking up to them were he to stand right in front of the door. Not that standing right in front of it would be easy, there seemed to be huge gates barring the way, almost similar to the gates at the entrance of the town in itself.

 

However, what was even more imposing than the castle in itself was what was spread in front of it, around it, like billions of tiny colored but dark ants moving around, scrambling around and swarming up the gates, getting into place and sticking themselves as close to the castle as possible without breaching its doors. The crowd seemed to stretch on for miles and miles from where they were standing and Baekhyun knew that wasn’t possible but despite that, he wouldn’t deny that it was _crowded._ Almost enough for him to already feel something pressing against his chest and making it a tad bit more difficult for him to breathe.

 

"Keep your cloak on and don’t catch anyone’s gaze."

 

Chanyeol's voice pulled him out of his observation and worried thoughts and when he looked at the other, he had a small furrow to his eyebrows but Baekhyun knew it wasn’t anything remotely close to concern. His eyes were sparkling with something like amusement, as if he was once again mocking Baekhyun. As if he knew this place was dangerous for him and Baekhyun was inwardly starting to panic.

 

"If you were so worried about me, you could’ve just left me in your house," he retorted, making sure that his voice didn’t tremble even if his heart was restless in his chest.

 

"Your short legs might have been tempted to run away without me watching over you," the other grinned and Baekhyun could see it. He could see it in his smile that Chanyeol knew perfectly well that Baekhyun wasn’t brave enough to even think about running away seriously.

 

"Alright, let’s just go," Jongdae cut them off before Baekhyun could find something to throw back at the other.

 

He simply sighed and chose to ignore Chanyeol for the time being, following Jongdae instead as Chanyeol moved to walk on the other side of Jongdae, leaving the latter to separate them. Baekhyun felt kind of grateful for that barrier.

 

The closer they got to the crowd, the more imposing it felt and soon, Baekhyun found himself clutching the hood of his cloak to make sure it wouldn’t fall off because of clumsiness or even a strong breeze, which was stupid because there was no wind, no weather in the Cave. It didn’t matter though, it at least gave him something to hold onto as he kept stealing glances at the big, imposing castle that only grew bigger the closer they walked to it.

 

Soon, Baekhyun found himself in a sea of colorful, dark, bland, and odd creatures, their limbs sometimes clashing against his, his ears picking up on human curses, groans, and even a few joyful roars here and there, a horrifying cacophony that almost felt as amazing as it felt frightening. He wasn’t exactly scared anymore after a few second spent walking closer to the castle with Jongdae’s cold, powdery, and dry hand wrapped around his wrist in order to make sure he wouldn’t get engulfed into the crowd and get lost. Once again, Baekhyun felt grateful towards him, even if his skin was eerily cold and Baekhyun hated the thought that a dead person, a lifeless monster was touching him.

 

Overall, the crowd of creatures seemed excited, agitated with happiness and Baekhyun took a deep, relieved breath when they stopped walking after a while, now standing a bit separated from the crowd, no more monstrous groans attacking his ears or furry elbows digging into his sides. It was surprising, Baekhyun had expected to be lost in the crowd all throughout the speech or whatever the Queen was going to do and he carefully, slowly took a look around, curious. They were indeed away from the crowd, only a few steps away but enough to breathe properly. He noticed a few creatures glancing towards him, whispering amongst themselves, and even trying to  step back, as if they had been the ones to give them the room to breathe in the first place.

 

Panic slowly crawled under Baekhyun’s skin at the thought that they could see through him and figure out that he had no place here but after a few more seconds of observation he noticed that they weren’t even looking at him. Chanyeol was the subject of their curious and almost frightened looks, and probably even of the whispers and the snarls they shared amongst themselves. Carefully, Baekhyun looked up at Chanyeol but the latter was ignoring everything around him, not even letting his gaze stray away from the gates of the castle, his jawline tense. Was he uncomfortable? Baekhyun didn’t know but before he could even think about asking why everyone once again seemed to take their distance from him, a general hush fell over the crowd.

 

His gaze snapped back to the monsters and he saw all of them frozen. No one was moving, no one even looked like they were breathing, everyone was simply looking towards the castle and it almost looked like for a split second, everyone was scared, frightened, apprehending what was about to happen. Baekhyun felt the same way but before he could feel surprised by the crowd of monsters' reaction, the cold silence was suddenly broken by a loud screech, something close to a croak that seemed to echo for a few seconds. He looked up and realized that nothing was echoing. A bird had just croaked from up in the sky and the dozens, hundreds of other birds following it around had just joined in, creating a terrifying harmony for a few seconds, something that sounded like a sinister announcement.

 

Baekhyun was surprised to find birds in this world but when one of them plunged down to fly closer to the ground, almost right in front of him, almost _towards_ him, he noted with amazement and fear sizzling deep in his stomach that they weren’t birds. At least, not any kind of normal birds. They didn’t have feathers, their entire tiny bodies were made out of yellowish, almost rotten bones, their heads curving into a long, sharp beak that opened wide to let out shrill croaks as they soared in the air, wings made out of thin, long bones linked together by a thin, dark tissue.

 

They flew over the crowd, as if observing it, as if watching it, and Baekhyun’s gaze was drawn to them but when he heard something that sounded like the wail of a broken, rusty horn followed by the beat of loud stumping over the ground, his gaze was once again snapping back to the castle, as if he were enchanted by the music. Just like every single monster around him that looked with him, watching as the massive doors of the castle were thrown open and out came tall, broad, faceless creatures. There was a dozen of them, all of them walking in a straight line towards the gates and carrying what looked like a huge, rectangular box covered in gold, silver, and bronze colored ornaments, almost like expensive jewelry one would see around the neck of an expensive lady in a an expensive neighborhood. The front of it was covered in a black, velvety curtain that fluttered delicately with each step of its carriers.

 

He looked away when he caught an almost gleaming glimpse of white from the corner of his eye, gaze sliding to someone who surprisingly looked entirely human. He was walking right alongside the tall monsters, so small next to them, not even reaching their shoulders, and he was entirely dressed in white, the fabric of his clothes almost gleaming from how pure and stainless they looked. His skin was fair too but a healthy color, not too pale but definitely paler than any other monster he had seen until now if Jongdae’s unnaturally white skin didn’t count. His hair was of a light, chestnut brown, strands cleanly swiped over his forehead as he looked in front of him while walking, chin held high and chest almost puffed out.

 

Then, they stopped. Suddenly, all at once, in almost military precision. It was still silent all around except for the horns and the drums but Baekhyun couldn’t even look away from the monsters and the human and the black curtain.

 

Suddenly, the music stopped. It didn’t fade away, it didn’t die down, it simply stopped. Again, with almost military precision. However, before silence could properly settle over the area, the human stepped forward, a step closer to the monsters but not close enough. He looked at them and suddenly he didn’t seem so clean anymore, it was faint but Baekhyun caught on the way he crinkled his nose the slightest bit in what seemed to be disgust before wiping it all away and parting his lips, his voice elevating broadly all around them. 

 

"We’re proud and delighted to welcome all of you here and honor you with Her Majesty the Queen’s gracious presence, just like we do every week thanks to Her Majesty’s generosity," the man started and Baekhyun almost cringed at how many praises he managed to fit in a single sentence. Everyone else seemed to drink every single one of his words up, however, almost listening to him in religious silence so he blended in and did the same.

 

"As you all know, the Cave is often forgotten. Every soul that ends up here is merely dumped in here in an almost outrageously careless way and no one ever comes to check on you. Do they?" he asked and instantly the whole crowd came alive and replied, snarling, groaning, and screaming in what seemed to be anger and outrage. "No one checks up on how you are doing, no one ever asks if you fit this world, no one even explains anything to you after dumping you here. You’re nothing but the sinners that the Almighty himself has forgotten and maybe never even heard of."

 

He took a break in his speech there and merely listened to the crowd’s reaction, looking over it with his lips curled in satisfaction. Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows, entirely confused by the whole situation. Why was he riling everyone up against God? The being he addressed as the ‘Almighty’ could only be God and they were in the afterlife, a world ruled by God himself. Shouldn’t he know everything? Wasn’t he supposed to know and hear absolutely everything?

 

"However, you must not fear," the man started again, his voice pushing another hush over the whole crowd. Baekhyun glanced at Jongdae and then at Chanyeol. They were both listening but neither of them was reacting the way the crowd was. "You must not worry for the Almighty has not in fact forgotten about you. He might not check up on you, he might not be aware of your situation but that is only because he has appointed another supreme being to rule over you, take care of you, and command you through the right path in this world inhabited by sinners. She has always fought for your well-being, she has always done everything in her power for her people, has always cared about you, and will always put you above everything in exchange of nothing but your loyalty." 

 

The crowd cheered then, loud, unintelligible, agitated, and _alive._ Baekhyun had never expected to see this.

 

The man spoke again only seconds later, not waiting for the cheers to die down this time but inexplicably, his voice could be heard very clearly through it all.

 

"And she's here today, to let you know she cares and is part of you, always in front of you, around you, all throughout the world you inhabit," he shouted and his words were deeply disturbing but the crowd seemed to eat it all up as the man turned towards the carriage still up on the monsters’ shoulders, a wide smile on his lips, his arms stretched out towards it like an artist showing off its most precious masterpiece. He continued announcing the Queen, his voice getting even louder, just like the crowd’s own voice, like worshippers awaiting and asking to see a divine being they believed in above anything else. "Her Majesty the Queen, Kang Seulgi!" he roared, the crowd acclaiming him and the name he pronounced. "The First and Only Queen of the Underworld, Ruler of the Cave, Voice of the Sinners, Protector of Monstrous Creatures, and Possessor of the Whistling Portals."

 

Baekhyun couldn’t help but find that title ridiculously long and yet, he also couldn’t help but feel overwhelmingly amazed at the way the crowd seemed to agree with every single word leaving the man’s lips, roaring and cheering and clapping and somehow growing even louder when the dark curtain fluttered the slightest bit before a delicate hand with long, black nails parted it. Amidst the thunders of the worship given to her, the Queen stepped out of her carriage and Baekhyun felt the breath knocked out of him at first sight.

 

When told there was a Queen, he had expected a monster, maybe the ugliest and most powerful of monsters for the crowd to react this way, in a mix of fear and amazement, but he was entirely wrong. The Queen of the Cave was nothing but a breathtakingly beautiful woman and Baekhyun felt a deep sadness piercing right through the core of his heart for a split second at the thought that such an ethereal beauty was locked down here, in a world inhabited by the ugliest and most sinful souls.

 

The first thing that he noted about her was that she looked human, disturbingly so. Her long black hair flowed down her back and tickled her waist, blindingly dark, as soft-looking as velvet, and as lustrous as a waterfall crying the deadliest poison of the darkest shade you could find in the whole world. Her skin was fair, as smooth and appealing as a vase made out of the finest porcelain, the kind that looked so beautifully unreal that you almost wanted to graze it with a fingertip, feel it, push it to see if it would fall and shatter into thousands of pieces. It contrasted naturally with the dark shadows drawn around her single-lidded eyes, thin black lines sharpening her gaze, flowing on the skin around her eyes like smoke of the darkest shade, as if painted on her skin from a wicked potion that made her eyes enchanting, bewitched in their raw, dark beauty.

 

Her lips were painted red, crimson, and her skin glittered and gleamed but it was different from Chanyeol’s skin, it wasn’t scales. Baekhyun could make out tiny diamonds bathing in the dark lines around her eyes, scattered on the highest points of her cheeks and tied like a ribbon around her neck, her necklace glittering like stolen, frightened stars. Her skin was the only pure thing she wore, the rest of her body was entirely covered, every single inch of her skin hidden under a mesmerizing black dress that embraced every single curve and left almost nothing to the imagination despite covering everything. It flowed down her body fluidly, like another waterfall infected by charcoal, like dozens of shadows clinging onto her and stretching out behind her, the backside of her gown longer, trailing behind her like stains of poison she left behind with every step taken forward.

 

She was beautiful and the man from earlier had compared her to God and now, Baekhyun could perfectly understand. Her entire being, her crimson smile, her enchanting eyes, and everything about her looked divine. She was made to be worshipped and she _was,_ every single one of her subjects roared and cheered and acclaimed her and she drank it all in, almost as if she was absorbing it all in and it was loud and even the man who announced her was looking at her like she was a divine creature. This didn’t make sense. There was only one ruler in the afterlife as far as he knew and that was God. But these monsters seemed to see their Queen as their Goddess and she seemed to thrive off it, to the point of this almost looking like a cult.

 

Once again, Baekhyun wasn’t sure whether he was amazed or frightened but before he could decide, Seulgi spoke and instantly, the whole crowd fell silent.

 

"My dear creatures," she started, her voice soft yet loud, low yet high, enchanting yet almost carrying a tone of madness that Baekhyun wasn’t sure whether he associated to the whole situation or her own actual voice. "Thank you for being here today. I am absolutely delighted to see all of my little monsters gathered here, supporting their Queen and fulfilling their only duty in a world that belongs to all of us and that needs to be kept in order despite it being inhabited by monstrous and vile creatures, sinners that are sent here as nothing but a cruel punishment. But you’re not being punished, this world belongs to you, it doesn’t belong to the Almighty."

 

The crowd cheered and acclaimed her again and now, Baekhyun found it a bit frightening. They were drinking up a speech Baekhyun couldn’t even see the purpose of for now. Moreover, the way she spoke was a bit odd, as if she was dissociating with the Queen she was talking about, with herself.

 

"Alas, I have nothing of much importance to tell you today," she continued when the crowd calmed down. "The Whistling Portals are fully functioning, our smugglers are bringing in anything I deem useful to our world. My power is also greatly expending over the Cave as the Portals are growing in number. Keep in mind that you’re welcome to join me and be granted access to them in order to help me increase the power I need to rule over our world properly." At those words, the crowd cheered again. Baekhyun could make out some of them raising their hands, screaming that they wanted to help, that they would give their life to their Queen. It was confusing, they were all already dead. 

 

The Queen smiled wider.

 

"Also keep in mind that tomorrow, we’ll also lead our Sentenced Souls ritual. You’re all welcome to come watch the delightful show or even join the event and have the honor of punishing those who have insulted your Queen or committed unpleasant crimes by breaking the rules of our world."

 

And Baekhyun was still very confused but her speech seemed to be done because she raised her hand and brought it against her chest. Her skin was pale, unhealthily pale, and contrasted with the dark fabric of her dress.

 

There was a general agitation in the crowd and he looked around, seeing that everyone was mimicking her by putting their hand against their chest, even Chanyeol and Jongdae who were still standing next to him and had remained entirely silent until now. Their features didn’t let any kind of emotion bleed out. Hesitantly, Baekhyun brought a hand against his chest and watched as everyone parted their lips and pronounced the same sentence, their voices mixing into a single, united voice.

 

" _May our Queen lead a long reign over our sinful souls."_

 

And with that, the Queen simply nodded her head once in satisfaction before turning around and disappearing back into her carriage in a single sharp movement, almost like a moving shadow. The crowd cheered again and continued to do so until the faceless monsters carried the Queen back to the castle and the doors closed behind her.

 

Everyone started moving around, agitated, some advancing closer to the castle as if they hadn’t had enough of the odd woman’s odd presence, while others already moved to get away from this place. 

 

"Well, that was boring," Jongdae’s voice arose from next to him and Baekhyun snapped out of it, looking at him. His features were less tense now, carrying an obvious powdered layer of boredom.

 

"What just happened?" was the only thing Baekhyun could say.

 

"You just listened to our Queen’s speech," Chanyeol replied with a tone that deemed his answer obvious and Baekhyun’s question stupid. The latter frowned at him. He had almost forgotten that Chanyeol was even there and the reminder wasn’t pleasant.

 

"That felt like a cult," Baekhyun said.

 

"It kinda is," Jongdae shrugged.

 

He could still feel his whole body shivering from how loud everyone had been, he could still hear the echo of her strong voice and for some reason, Baekhyun didn’t find it very pleasant.

 

"What’s that Sentenced Souls thing?" he asked after a few seconds, when no one said anything and didn’t move either, as if the Queen’s effect still lingered over the three of them.

 

"That’s just a kind of show where the Queen and whoever attends can watch monsters torture other monsters for having broken rules. Most of the time it’s just people who have upset the Queen, one way or another," Jongdae replied with a nonchalant shrug, as if what he had just said wasn’t horrifying.

 

"The Queen watches her subjects get tortured?!" he couldn’t help but blurt out.

 

"Oh, it's not the worst thing she does," Jongdae shrugged again before grinning. "Plus, they don’t die. They’re already dead so they just feel a lot of pain and then recover and never disrespect her again. I guess it’s efficient."

 

That sounded wrong. Baekhyun had figured out that something was wrong and now, he knew exactly why everyone had looked scared for a second before she made her entrance. She really did think of herself as the supreme ruler of this world and she acted upon it. Her reign couldn’t be based on anything pure or right and that much could be seen on the way her subjects worshipped her. Maybe it was all out of fear or maybe that was exactly the kind of ruler awful sinners turned into monsters wanted.

 

He still had so many questions to ask, so many things that confused him about what he had just seen but before he could say anything else, the crowd became agitated again and when Baekhyun looked towards it, he saw that it seemed to be parting into two, as if creating a path. And when he saw who was walking through that path, Baekhyun felt his heart stuttering in his chest out of fear. 

 

There were two creatures, two monsters, two being carrying what seemed to be rusty, dark, and wrecked-looking armors on their bony body. They had no skin, no flesh, no muscles, there was nothing but bones, bare bones hidden under armors and in their hands, they held what looked like daggers, long daggers that were shorter than a sword but still longer than any usual dagger.

 

They were walking towards them. He tensed up, felt Jongdae looking at him, and pulled his hood down to hide his face but it was too late, his eyes met the tiny flames fluttering threateningly in the hollow of one of the skeleton-soldier’s eyes. 

 

He felt the urge to flee. Had he been discovered? Had they found out about his presence here? How? What were they going to do? Kill him on the spot? Why wasn’t Chanyeol doing anything? He glanced at him but Chanyeol was looking right at the skeleton-soldiers, face bare of any emotion. Why weren’t they running away? Were they just going to deny everything and act nonchalant? Panic was slowly flooding his senses and Baekhyun grew fidgety, fingers clutching his hood which probably only made him more suspicious but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t move, paralyzed by fear and the dozens of horrifying scenarios that whizzed through his head as the monsters kept walking towards them until eventually, they stopped right in front of them.

 

"Park Chanyeol," he heard, refusing to look at them but startling the slightest bit at the deep, cave-like voice that seemed to be coming from the deepest nook of the skeleton’s chest. It had no heart, no muscles, no brain, yet it was walking and holding a weapon and they were tall and could easily stab Baekhyun to death. "Her Majesty the Queen demands to see you."

 

She wanted to see Chanyeol? Why? Was that normal? Was that usual? Could Jongdae just take him home and leave Chanyeol to deal with the Queen? What would she do to him? Why did she ask to see Chanyeol so suddenly? He didn’t know and truthfully, it didn’t even matter. He just wanted to get away from this place, away from this Queen that seemed mad and dangerous.

 

"Bring the human with you," the second skeleton added after a second and Baekhyun froze, cold, icy fear flooding every single inch of his body.

 

The Queen asked to see him. She knew about him.

 

Eyes wide and heart hammering in his chest like a frightened animal demanding to be let out of its cage, Baekhyun finally looked up and at Chanyeol. His heart stopped. 

 

Chanyeol’s lips were curved into a smile, a wide, toothy grin. His red eyes were sparkling, dark, bright, like deadly lasers seeking for their victim.

 

Baekhyun knew that smile. He had learned.

 

That smile meant danger for Baekhyun but victory for the blue-skinned monster.


	4. Chapter Three

If the castle looked intimidating enough from the outside, Baekhyun felt trapped inside of a demon’s mind the moment he breached the massive, eery doors that had opened in front of him as if someone had pulled the strings from inside or used a mere spell to give them access to a monster’s den. 

 

It was dark inside and Baekhyun felt oppressed, as if a huge clawed hand was resting on his chest and on his stomach, gradually pressing harder to push the air out of him and empty his lunges inch by inch. Somehow, the castle looked like any other castle Baekhyun had seen, in movies, in novels, or in history books. It was filled with ornaments, not a single spot was spared from gleaming and glinting expensively, every single inch of the floor was either covered in marble or a velvet-like texture that felt soft even under his shoed feet. 

 

Paintings were covering most of the walls, some of them abstract-looking, like a painting he would’ve expected to see in a museum back in the human world, but most of them were depicting a now eerily familiar face, a face he saw in every single room they walked through, a beautiful face that seemed to belong to different persons in every single one of the paintings despite always sporting the same delicately sharp features. It was the Queen’s face.

 

It didn’t feel very pleasant, it felt like she was always there, around, watching, listening, and aware of everything happening in her castle. That thought alone was enough to send shivers crawling down Baekhyun’s spine. It was dark all around. An expensive kind of dark, the kind that felt alive yet dead at the same time, like shadows playing hide and seek in every corner of the castle, breathing down his neck or watching him through the eyes of the Queen’s portraits. 

 

Baekhyun glanced around and there were no windows, nothing but artificial lights, sometimes blue, sometimes red, and sometimes a rich golden color that didn’t match with the furnitures scattered around the castle. Everything wad gleaming but nothing was of a golden color, everything was black and Baekhyun had never seen black gold, he wasn’t even sure it existed in the human world but he wouldn’t be surprised if it could be produced down here. If they could somehow produce electricity in a world of monsters, black gold didn’t really sound insane. 

 

Despite the curiosity, once again mixed to the fear, Baekhyun made sure to keep his hands to himself, not even grazing his fingertips against any of the sharp ornaments, the paintings, or the velvety furnitures. He wasn’t stupid enough to think that it would somehow harm him but everything almost seemed to be covered in a thin sheen of black shadows. Or maybe it was just Baekhyun’s mind falling to the trap of the darkness surrounding him and slowly losing its sanity.

 

Chanyeol was still walking by his side, still holding himself tall, broad, and confident, as if he owned every single inch of the floor he stepped on as they headed towards the throne room. His lips were curved into the same usual smirk and his skin seemed a shade darker when they passed through a hallway painted with dim light, the tiny scales on his skin resting on his cheeks like freckles when there was no proper light to make them gleam like precious stones buried under the clear water of a soothed river.

 

He looked as confident as he usually did while Baekhyun kept glancing behind him, throwing cautious looks to the two skeleton soldiers following them and making sure that they would reach the Queen without any trouble. It seemed unnecessary, Chanyeol didn’t even look around as he led the way, his feet walking him through the castle as if he had taken this path a hundred times already. Baekhyun looked at him again. He couldn’t read his face.

 

Not that he was trying his hardest to pay attention to Chanyeol when his eyes kept straying away, taking in his surroundings and burning it into his memory in case he’d need to run out of the castle. It seemed impossible, surely every single monster in this world was faster than him, and yet, it was just a precaution. He knew he could find his way back outside on his own even if a little bit of trouble was expected, he had an excellent memory, a sense of direction he was rather proud of, and if he closed his eyes for a few seconds, this would almost feel like a mission from one of those video games he had watched hundreds of videos of without ever being able to play it from lack of money.

 

Soon, they turned a corner and finally, Baekhyun caught a sign of life for the first time in the few minutes they had spent roaming around the maze-like castle. He inwardly winced at his own phrasing.

 

Dead or alive, there was yet another pair of skeleton guards planted right in front of another set of huge doors, their hands stretched to the side, either of them holding what seemed to be rusty spears that came together in a cross right in front of the doors, barring the way. They stepped closer and suddenly, flames lit up in the hollow where their eyes should be. Like dolls whose strings were suddenly pulled up, they pulled their spears away from the doors in a single sharp movement, Baekhyun biting on his tongue to keep a startled sound in when they moved too suddenly.

 

The doors then opened with a loud croak that echoed all around them as if they weren’t in a  castle but in an empty, remote cave tucked into the middle of nowhere but before he could even think about how weird this entire place was, Baekhyun’s attention was pulled to what awaited them patiently behind those now open doors. Unsurprisingly, the Queen was nestled on her throne, a seat carved into what seemed to be melted bones, sharp edges jutting out behind her, where she rested her back, like an ill, infested halo hovering over her whole body.

 

Her gaze was as sharp as the bones she rested her back upon, like the prize to her power, her home, the only thing she trusted to lean her weight against without fearing a fall. She was wearing another set of bones on her head but these didn’t really look like real bones, contrary to the ones her throne was carved on. They weren’t white or yellowish or anything close to a pure color, they were blue, a dark blue that reminded Baekhyun of the color of the sky at sunset, when the dark was winning over the light inch by inch and the Sun had no choice but to cede its throne over the sky to the Moon and her sparkling, loyal soldiers. 

 

Her crown was made of bones, breaded into a circle that rested on top of her head as if they were not bones but flowers, petals of a magnificent blue that blended against her pitch black strands, as if it wasn’t a crown but a part of herself. It was odd, Baekhyun thought, for it to feel this way when she hadn’t been wearing it earlier while giving a speech to her subjects.

 

His gaze accidentally fell into Seulgi’s and every single thought clouding his head dissipated at once, as if she had snapped her fingers or cracked a whip and pulled the strings of his mind around until the only thing he could think about was how beautiful her eyes were. They looked deep and dangerous as a pond one might want to bathe in under the moonlight only to realize once it was too late that it was nothing but a deep, endless hole that would absorb your soul and annihilate your body.

 

"Your audience with Her Majesty the Queen, Kang Seulgi has been accepted," were the words that pulled him out of of his thoughts with a startle and Baekhyun’s gaze was finally freed from the Queen’s grasp when she slid her a bit to the side, her bloodied smile widening as if the words pronounced by the same human as earlier were nothing but a delightful melody to her ears. 

 

Baekhyun wasn’t really sure an audience with a Queen consisted in her royal guards personally fetching you without giving you the choice to refuse. He kept silent, listening to the human’s next words. "You stand in front of The First and Only Queen of the Underworld, Ruler of the Cave, Voice of the Sinners, Protector of Monstrous Creatures, and Possessor of the Whistling Portals."

 

He bit on his tongue to keep in something. He wasn’t sure what would’ve escaped him, an exasperated sigh, an amused chuckle, or something entirely different. Either way, before he could even say or do something, he caught movement in the corner of his eye and when he looked over at Chanyeol, he was almost crouched on the floor, one knee resting against the black marble while his other leg was folded into two, foot flat against the floor and knee pointing towards the ceiling. One of his hands was pressed against the floor as well, the other resting against his chest, elbow resting on his pointed knee. It was odd, Baekhyun had never seen someone paying respect to a royalty in such a way but he didn’t mind and as soon as he noticed that all eyes were on him, he dropped to his knees and mirrored Chanyeol’s position as best as he could. 

 

It was silent for all but a few seconds, Baekhyun felt scrutinized and when he tried discreetly glancing to the Queen, he noted that it wasn’t her gaze burning his skin, the beautiful woman not once straying her eyes away from Chanyeol. It was intriguing but he looked away, a bit to the side and his gaze met the human-looking man’s. There was nothing light or friendly in his gaze and Baekhyun yielded to the urge of looking away.

 

"You may stand," he heard, the Queen’s voice gentle yet firm as she spoke.

 

Chanyeol stood properly and Baekhyun followed suit, trying his hardest to ignore the beads of sweet sliding down his spine. This room made him feel suffocated. 

 

"It is so nice to see you, Chanyeol. I’m so glad you thought of visiting me, it has been a while since our last encounter," she continued and Baekhyun almost winced at her words. He wasn’t sure whether she genuinely didn’t know that her guards had basically dragged them here or she just chose to ignore that fact.

 

Chanyeol didn’t seem bothered by it, however, and Baekhyun felt his eyes widening in alarm when the monster took a step forward and then another, and another until he climbed the first step leading to the elevated throne the Queen was resting on.

 

"It is nothing but my own pleasure to have the occasion to catch a glimpse of your gracious presence, Your Highness," Chanyeol almost purred, voice sliding an octave lower than usual. Baekhyun didn’t know where he found the confidence to speak to a Queen in such a way, obviously giving her advances, but she didn’t seem to mind. On the contrary, her smile widened, her features brightening with a glint that was anything but pure. Discomfort carved a spot into Baekhyun’s stomach and he followed Chanyeol with his eyes as the latter climbed the last step leading to the Queen.

 

"You’ve always been good with words. I wish all of them belonged to me," she said, delicately stretching her hand out just as Chanyeol kneeled in front of her.

 

His blue skin contrasted almost wrongly with her own pale skin when he carefully grabbed her hand, as if he was holding something halfway between a bird with broken wings so easy to frighten or an explosive ready to burst right into his face if mishandled. Baekhyun felt unease breathing down his neck loudly, bewilderment and curiosity filling him up as he watched the scene unfolding in front of him, Chanyeol leaning down a little bit until his lips pressed against the back of the Queen’s hand in a delicate, feather-light kiss. The few rings embracing her fingers glinted harder than the freckle-like scales on Chanyeol’s cheeks and her smile widened, her eyes brightening like a child who had found the hiding spot of her Christmas gift earlier than the day she was supposed to unfold the ribbon tied around the colorful package.

 

It was almost twisted, the way she leaned forward the slightest bit, as if enchanted, before Chanyeol straightened his back again and stepped away from her. For some reasons, Baekhyun felt like running away. He wondered if he had to do the same thing, go up to her and press a respectful kiss against the back of her hand. Chanyeol said nothing, did nothing to indicate that Baekhyun should follow his action as he stepped closer to the human again and stood beside him. He still had a grin on, it was so strikingly different than the expression he had on earlier while listening to her speech outside of the castle and Baekhyun didn’t understand. He had figured that both Chanyeol and Jongdae didn’t like the Queen, which would’ve explained why Jongdae chose to wait for them outside of the castle, but Chanyeol looked as if he was delighted to be in her presence.

 

"How have you been?" the beautiful woman spoke again, her question obviously directed at Chanyeol. She hadn’t glanced at him yet, as if he had somehow blended into the sparkly, black and gold decor of the room.

 

"I’ve been fine, Your Highness. Nothing unusual about me," Chanyeol replied nonchalantly, shrugging as if he were talking to an old friend. "I hope you’ve been fine as well. Your wonderful speech might’ve worn you out a little."

 

Baekhyun refrained from saying out loud that she had spent not more than two minutes outside, two minutes during which every single one of her subject had worshipped her and agreed with every single sound leaving her mouth. 

 

"I’ve been fine as well. A bit bored since our last meeting, this castle isn’t as fun when my most handsome companion isn’t by my side," she shrugged as well, a few strands of her long hair falling off her shoulder and cascading down over her chest, reaching down her waist. Finally, her gaze shifted to Baekhyun, her eyebrows furrowing a tad bit as if she had only just now noticed his presence in the room. 

 

In the blink of an eye, her crimson smile was wiped off, a snarl curving her red lips down instead as she stared at Baekhyun for a few seconds. "I’ve been fine," she repeated but this time, her voice wasn’t gentle, nor enchanting, and nothing like the satisfied purr she had given to Chanyeol. It was as hard and cold as stone, deeper, sending shivers down Baekhyun’s back, painful like tiny creatures planting their tiny, sharp claws in every single bump of his spine. "I’ve been fine until word that you brought a human into our world reached me."

 

Baekhyun’s heart jumped against his ribcage, his throat tightening into a knot. This was it. This was the moment he had been waiting for. Had this been Chanyeol’s plan all along? Was this what he had meant by going on a little adventure to turn him back into a human? Was he about to offer him to the Queen in exchange of a wish? Was this how Baekhyun was going to be useful to him? He remembered the grin Chanyeol had on earlier, when the skeleton soldiers had found them outside. He glanced at him, anguish screeching in his stomach. He was smiling, blue and green and victorious.

 

"I’m a bit upset that you heard of my gift before I had the occasion to present it to you on my own," was Chanyeol’s reply, his smile faltering off a little, lips pursing as he frowned, gaze directed to the ground. He looked upset. It didn’t make sense, he had been smiling a second ago and Baekhyun was really starting to lose his mind.

 

"A gift?"

 

That seemed to pike her interest and her frown disappeared, her voice elevating into a softer tone again. Her eyes sparkled as she glanced at Baekhyun again before looking at Chanyeol. She looked delighted. She seemed to like Chanyeol very much, maybe too much, much more than a Queen was supposed to like an average subject. He didn’t know why but the way she looked at Chanyeol, her eyes sparkling with dark, twisted shadows pushed unease down Baekhyun’s throat.

 

"I brought him here as a gift for you, Your Highness," Chanyeol said again, glancing at her once before looking down again, as if he was scared to see the upset twist of her beautiful features. His words finally downed upon Baekhyun now that he repeated them and his heart slammed harder against his ribcage, trying to find an escape.

 

He looked over his shoulders, the two skeleton soldiers who had escorted them earlier were standing right in front of the door, barring the way. Or maybe it was the two creatures who had been guarding the door earlier. Baekhyun didn’t know, they all looked the same and his stomach twisted at the thought. His heart seemed to finally damage his ribcage after a few tries, he felt something piercing through his chest, sliding into him and puncturing his lungs, making it impossible for him to keep the air in. His chest heaved up and down, he looked in front of him again, his gaze falling into the human dressed in all-white. He was the only touch of pure color in this world of darkness but the way he looked at Baekhyun, with his lips twisted into a disgusted line, only made the human feel worse. It was difficult to breathe.

 

He glanced at Chanyeol. Then at the Queen. Over his shoulder again. There was no way for him to escape. The only door was the one guarded by the skeleton soldiers. He was trapped. He was trapped in a world full of monsters and he was trapped in a contract with a blue-skinned devil and he was trapped in the throne room of a mad, scary Queen. And it was pathetic. He should’ve ran away. He shouldn’t have followed Chanyeol outside, he should’ve fought harder when a blue-skinned, clawed hand had grabbed his ankle and dragged him down under his bed. 

 

"A gift," Chanyeol repeated and Baekhyun felt those words sliding along the air and snaking around his neck before squeezing as hard as it could until he felt his eyes burning. "I wanted to bring you a human to feed from, to show you my deepest affection," he continued and Baekhyun’s gaze snapped back to him, his words pulling his conscience back to him again. Mortification filled him up and almost overflowed when he saw that there was not even the slightest hint of a joke in Chanyeol’s voice. "I wanted to keep him hidden for a bit though, that’s why I didn’t bring him up of my own accord as soon as I got a hold of him."

 

"Why would you want to hide him?" she snapped, her features once again twisted with anger. She seemed to switch between her emotions fast, like a car fastening and fastening until it would grow difficult to keep control over it.

 

Baekhyun couldn’t really mind. He had a hard time keeping control over _himself._  

 

He had been stupid. That thought was recurring since the very first second he had stepped, or rather fell, into this world and it was always, _always_ followed by a peak of anger. He could feel it in the way his nails dug into the tender flesh of his palms, his hands trembling on either side of his body. He had to stay calm. He had to understand the situation first. He couldn’t run away so the least he could do was at least understand his last few moments if he was to find the end of his life in this twisted situation.  

 

"I didn’t want to give you a stupid useless human as a surprise, Your Highness." Seulgi’s smile was back again and amidst the chaos, Baekhyun still found it in himself to glare at Chanyeol who still didn’t even glance at him. "I wanted to bring him to travel around the Kingdom and educate him and make sure he’s on par with Your Highness first. You deserve nothing but the best, after all."

 

"Oh, Chanyeol," the Queen almost swooned, bringing her hands together and linking them against her chest, as if Chanyeol’s words were a pink, lovely arrow piercing through her heart and spreading pure cherry blossoms though her dead heart. 

 

Dead? Baekhyun wasn’t sure. She looked human, almost entirely human except for her ethereal, otherworldly beauty that shone over the whole room with a dash of madness.

 

"But of course, since you’re so smart, you found out before I could complete my task," Chanyeol spoke again, shrugging as he smiled at the Queen as if he was upset but still couldn’t be mad at her.

 

"It’s alright, it’s still very sweet of you to think of giving me such a lovely surprise. You’re so very lovely," she sighed, as if she was an enamored young girl rather than the one and only Queen of the Underworld. Then, her gaze trapped Baekhyun’s in those two dark, endless pools of shadows. "Well, then. Let me inspect my gift," she said, voice morphing back into a normal tone.

 

She stretched her hand out delicately again, letting it hang in the air as her eyes remained on Baekhyun. The latter was still frozen, still locked in a storm of confusion and anger and interest and curiosity but mainly, betrayal. Once again. 

 

The more she looked at him, the more Baekhyun felt fear overpowering everything else. Was she waiting for him to kiss her hand the way Chanyeol had done it. Was she going to grab him as soon as he got close to her and eat him alive. What exactly did Chanyeol mean by _feeding_ on him? He didn’t know. He didn’t want to find out. He wanted to listen to his heart’s panicked wails and run as far away as possible but he couldn’t. There was no way for him, a mere, weak, _stupid_ human to win against every monstrous creatures in this world. Especially if this Queen had every single one of them wrapped around her pinky like Chanyeol.

 

She didn’t look away, though, her smile was starting to fade away, slowly replaced by the faint trace of the angry snarl from earlier and Baekhyun didn’t know what to do until he felt a bony elbow nudging his arm. He looked at Chanyeol who was giving him a look, staring right into his eyes. They were warm, red and glittering, the glow of his freckles, of his scales, was gentle. There was something in his eyes, something halfway between exasperation and comfort. He nudged Baekhyun again and the latter finally stepped forward. The Queen smiled again, her hand still hanging delicately in the air.

 

He stepped towards her, heartbeat growing louder and more erratic with each step taken forward. He stood in front of the first step, fear still wound tight around his neck. This was stupid. He didn’t know why he was obeying. He didn’t know why he was walking towards his own death. His palms were sweaty, his nails almost sliding against the tender, damp flesh of his palms. He climbed the first step, then the next one, and the next one until he stood right in front of the Queen. 

 

His heartbeat was too loud for him to even hear his own thoughts as his hand slowly reached for her, a jolt of electricity jumping through his whole arm as soon as his skin made contact with her own. It was cold as ice which wasn’t surprising, Baekhyun had expected it. She was lifeless like everyone in this world. What made him jolt and intensified the overwhelming fear was how hard her skin felt, like stone. Not stone. Not ice either, she moved too delicately for her sins to have turned her into a beautiful creature sculpted into stone or ice. Leather. It felt more like leather.

 

Silently, he leaned down, down, until his lips pressed a soft kiss against her leather-like skin, a kiss as light as a feather, trembling as if caught in the middle of a storm much too strong for it to hold its ground. He held his lips against her skin for a second, scared that she would be offended if he pulled away too quickly but also not wanting to be so close to her for as long as Chanyeol had. He heard her taking a deep breath in, as if inhaling an appealing scent, followed by something that felt like a light breeze, a shadow, or a whisper. Not a whisper. Whispers. Unintelligible whispers seemed to hang between them for the second Baekhyun spend kissing the back of her hand before he pulled away, startled by the whispers, maybe too quickly. 

 

He met her gaze. He heard whispers again, so soft, almost too soft for him to be sure it wasn’t anything more than voices from afar carried by the wind. There was no wind in the Cave. She hadn’t spoken. She was looking at him with a quirked eyebrow. Baekhyun realized he had been standing in front of her silently for a few too many seconds and he stepped back immediately, almost tripping on his way down the stairs. He stood beside Chanyeol again and this time, he heard another whisper that sounded like a snicker. This one, he was sure, was real. 

 

"He smells wonderful," the Queen said as if it was a completely normal statement.

 

Baekhyun was still a bit too frightened and much more relieved that she hadn’t devoured him or sucked his blood or anything just as gruesome and painful to even pay attention to her words. 

 

"I’m glad he’s to your liking," he heard Chanyeol say and that was enough for him to get a grip over himself again, his whole body tensing up.

 

"You’re going to travel with him, you say?" she asked, her hands laced together on her lap as her gaze traveled over Baekhyun’s body, observing him. "I guess he looks average enough for me to allow him to go with you," she concluded.

 

Irritation flared for a second deep inside of Baekhyun, pushing the fear to cower to the side a little bit. She had never once addressed him. She was acting as if he wasn’t good enough for her to even directly talk to him. He said nothing, though, because Baekhyun might be a bit of a coward but he’d rather be a coward than an idiot. Most of the time, at least.

 

"Thank you, Your Highness," Chanyeol said and Baekhyun did his best not to look at him, biting on his tongue and gathering every single question and word he wanted to throw at the other to keep them for later instead, when he was sure the Queen wouldn’t ask her skeleton soldiers to cut his head off. 

 

"Where will you be going? For how long?" she asked and Baekhyun frowned a bit at the way her voice suddenly took on an almost saddened edge.

 

"Just around the Cave. I’ll be teaching him everything he needs to know about Your Highness’ wonderful reign over our world. This is also going to be a way for me to get a change of scenery so I’m not sure how long our trip will last," he said, the Queen frowning a bit at his last words. However, he spoke again before she could say anything. "I’ll be sure to think of you with every step I take and maybe bring you a few souvenirs from wherever I go. Would you like that, Your Highness?"

 

The effect was instantaneous. She smiled widely again and nodded her head sharply, suddenly looking like an excited young child rather than a powerful Queen. She looked like a lot of things. She was odd.

 

"You’re so lovely," she said again, laughing, _giggling_ behind her hand. "You can go on a little trip, you deserve it. No need for you to gift me the human though. He looks like he’d be more of a bother than an entertainment."

 

That should’ve felt insulting but Baekhyun was relieved instead. His whole body relaxed a little bit. Just a tiny little bit.

 

"As you wish, Your Highness," Chanyeol smiled, so sweet, so wide, and so unbelievably different from what Baekhyun was used to. 

 

"You will go tomorrow after our _rendez-vous,_ won’t you?" Seulgi said and it didn’t sound like a question. Her words intrigued Baekhyun and he glanced at the human standing near her, catching on the furrow of his eyebrows.

 

"Of course, I wouldn’t miss an occasion to spend time with you," Chanyeol said and then, he bowed, almost curtsying. Baekhyun scrambled to follow along.

 

"I will be expecting to see you tomorrow then," she said with a final tone that was enough for Baekhyun to understand they were being dismissed.

 

Chanyeol pressed a hand against his chest.

 

"May our Queen lead a long reign over our sinful souls," he said, the same words pronounced by the crowd of monsters outside the castle earlier.

 

Baekhyun didn’t follow along this time. He didn’t belong in this world. She wasn’t his Queen.

 

Her eyes met his again when he straightened his back, once again mimicking Chanyeol, and the slight frown on her lips, the shadows around her eyes and inside her dark orbs were enough for him to wonder if she knew exactly what was going through his head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"What the hell was that?!" were the first words Baekhyun threw at Chanyeol as soon as they stepped out of the castle’s boundaries, the gates closing behind them loudly, almost enough to drown his voice out.

 

It wasn’t the case though. He could see it in the way Chanyeol turned to him, quirking an eyebrow almost defiantly, maybe a bit nonchalantly. Or was it in irritation? Baekhyun didn’t know. He couldn’t know because Chanyeol was way too confusing, he couldn’t figure him out, he couldn’t read him as well as the other seemed to be able to read him. 

 

There was no more smile on his face, no trace of the obedient, sweet, enamored, _lovely,_ behavior he had conducted towards the Queen only seconds ago. There was not a single hint of it anymore, he seemed to be back to his obnoxious, confident, irritating self and if the way he had acted with the Queen had seemed unexpected, now, Baekhyun couldn’t help but wonder if it had merely been fake all along. He hadn’t seemed to agree with anything she had said through her speech, after all, and that was the only reason why Baekhyun had found it odd that he would act with her that way on a personal level.

 

"I assume she didn’t invite you in for a cup of smuggled tea. Or maybe the tea wasn’t to our dear human’s liking," Jongdae said when Chanyeol merely looked at Baekhyun for a few silent seconds, defiant. 

 

He had been waiting for them outside all along, leaning against the gates and only stepping away when he had seen the two of them approach. He had an amused smile on, the wide, powdery smile that would’ve chafed Baekhyun a little bit had he not been too focused on how much he disliked Chanyeol’s entire attitude.

 

"Of course not!" Baekhyun snapped, looking at the powdery creature for a second before letting his fierce gaze find Chanyeol’s unimpressed one again. "This asshole offered me to her as a _meal."_

 

"A meal?" Jongdae repeated, raising a white eyebrow.

 

Chanyeol snorted. Baekhyun felt anger boiling in his veins.

 

"Yes! What he meant by going on a little journey to turn him back human was apparently letting the Queen eat me," he spat out, almost trembling as every single emotion he had tried to contain in the throne room could burst out freely now that he didn’t have to fear any consequence to his behavior.

 

Chanyeol’s lips quirked up a little bit, as if what Baekhyun had just said was amusing and the latter wanted to rip the obnoxiously gleaming scales out of his cheeks one by one. He wouldn’t fee pain though so it would be useless and somehow, that thought worsened everything.

 

"How is this funny?!" he burst out.

 

"I thin you misunderstood," Jongdae said, replying in Chanyeol’s stead again.

 

"He said she could _feed_ from me," he gritted out through his teeth, an unpleasant shudder coursing through his whole body at the reminder of that particular sentence from Chanyeol.

 

"She wasn’t going to actually eat you alive, or eat you at all, for that matter," Chanyeol finally said and Baekhyun frowned.

 

"What did you mean then? Because it certainly sounded like you wouldn’t mind letting her kill me," he retorted.

 

Chanyeol’s only answer was a snort. Again.

 

"She does feed from humans," Jongdae interjected and for what felt like the hundredth time, Baekhyun was infinitely glad that he was there. Even if his words weren’t pleasant, he was actually willing to give him an explanation. "But not from their flesh or they soul or anything like that. She feeds from the fear."

 

"The fear?" Baekhyun repeated, a bit dumbfounded. She had looked perfectly human, nothing had ever indicated that she was actually a monster and it was a bit difficult to process the fact that she indeed was one. It made sense now. The crowd, the intimidating presence of the Queen, her words about his smelling delightful earlier. She must have felt how scared he was of her.

 

"Yep," Jongdae shrugged. He wasn’t smiling now, his beady eyes glanced around as if he was scared of people eavesdropping. "She feeds from fear. It works for the fear coming from us monsters but the fear from humans is much more efficient to keep her healthy. That’s why she opened those breaches between the Cave and the Above. She tasks her minions and whoever makes a deal with her with the duty of going up to the Above and frightening humans, their fear keeps her alive and healthy. At least, that’s what we think."

 

"Is that why she keeps a human by her side?" he asked, still curious about that matter.

 

"A human?" Jongdae frowned.

 

Chanyeol was still silent up until now and truthfully, Baekhyun didn’t mind. He did his best not to look at him. He didn’t want to look at him.

 

"Yeah, that guy dressed in all white who announced the Queen before her speech. He was right beside her in the throne room too."

 

"Oh," Jongdae said, realization spreading over his powdery face. "He’s not human."

 

"What is he then?" Baekhyun frowned. He thought the whole point of this world was every inhabitant looking monstrous.

 

"He’s an angel," Jongdae shrugged and for a few seconds, Baekhyun waited for him to laugh and say it was a joke.

 

"An angel?" he repeated, once again, when it didn’t happen. He supposed it made sense. If this was Hell, then there was also Heaven. If there were monsters, then there probably should be angels too. "What’s an angel doing here?"

 

"Well, did you really think God would leave this world without any supervision?"

 

"I mean, if there’s a queen ruling it instead of God, then how useful is this angel’s supervision?" he couldn’t help but question. It didn’t sound like this had been allowed either, the Queen wouldn’t have talked of God that way if she was thankful towards him.

 

"Well, she has Taemin wrapped all around her little finger. He’s rather enamored with her and he’s the one who helped her climb up to a throne that didn’t even exist before," Jongdae replied, eyes still trailing around carefully as he lowered his voice. "She shouldn’t be the Queen. There shouldn’t be any Queen and I’m not even sure anyone besides Taemin is even aware of the situation. God supervises things through the High Counsel of Angels who reports to him and Taemin’s the angel in charge of the Cave but I suppose you can say he’s corrupt. He probably doesn’t say a word about any of this to anyone else."

 

Baekhyun had a hard time processing everything. This whole world was much messier than he thought and he was hardly even surprised, maybe just craved a few more answers, but he mainly just wanted to go back to his own human world. It suddenly sounded much less complicated than everything happening in the Cave.

 

"In short, she wouldn’t have eaten you for real," Chanyeol said, finally speaking again after remaining silent all this time. Baekhyun felt his whole body tensing up as soon as the first words left his lips and he looked at him again, anger flaring in his chest. "Maybe just scared you, which doesn’t seem to be difficult to do."

 

"You said I was a gift for her. You said you would give me to her after our stupid trip," he argued, feeling the anger inside of him burn his own flesh when Chanyeol curved his lips into a smile and shrugged.

 

"She didn’t accept, didn’t she?"

 

"She could have!" Baekhyun hissed, exasperated beyond himself. 

 

Chanyeol seemed to see him as nothing but a means to get whatever it was he wanted and Baekhyun hated it. He was a human trapped in a world full of monsters and the very creature that had dragged him down here didn’t even seem to consider him as a human being but rather, a mere object.

 

"No, I knew she wouldn’t want anything to do with someone who reminds her of what she isn’t anymore," Chanyeol simply said, crossing his arms over his chest and standing there, tall, confident, and calm while Baekhyun was eating himself away with anger and exasperation.

 

The worst of it all was that in those words, Baekhyun could almost feel accusation. It sounded like Chanyeol had known what her reaction would be before he even offered baekhyun to the Queen and that should’ve felt reassuring but the only thing Baekhyun could focus on was this animosity Chanyeol seemed to harbor towards him without any real reason.

 

"But what if she had accepted?" he threw back, trying his hardest to remain calm and appear as confident as Chanyeol but failing horribly because he had never even tasted what confidence felt like in his whole life. "You can’t know for sure. You said you would send me back home after I helped you but what if she had actually asked you right then and there to leave me in the castle with her? What if she had accepted?" he questioned the other, growing restless with every single word that left his own mouth. 

 

The mere thought of being trapped here for the rest of his life made him want to scratch the skin of his neck off in a desperate attempt to untie whatever was wrapped there and suffocated him. He took a step closer to Chanyeol who was now frowning the slightest bit, the furrow of his eyebrows almost barely there. It drove Baekhyun mad. His voice was gaining in volume and maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do to discuss this right in front of the castle but he couldn’t help it. He hated this. He hated this and he hated Chanyeol and he hated how pathetic it was of him not to be able to do anything about this situation. But above all, he hated Chanyeol for being so incredibly selfish and treating Baekhyun this way despite everything.

 

"What if I ended up trapped here?" he repeated, anger pulling words out of his mouth without his consent. Or maybe it wasn’t just anger. Maybe it was just worry, a deep, wounding feeling of worry that had been chaffing him since the first second he had understood that there was no way for him to get out of this place on his own. "What if I ended up trapped in this stupid world all because of your stupid adventure?"

 

And that seemed to be the last straw.

 

The veil of calm shading Chanyeol’s face had been only fissured a little bit by that tiny furrow of his eyebrows but as soon as those last words left Baekhyun’s mouth, it seemed to loudly shatter in a billion pieces. He took a big step forward and it was almost irritating how a single step with those long legs was enough for him to stand directly in front of Baekhyun and let him see the sparks in his red eyes flare with irritation, maybe anger.

 

Baekhyun should be scared. It was stupid of him to anger a monster that could possibly be strong enough to kill him with his bare hands or at the very least hurt him but he wasn’t scared. Baekhyun was easy to scare, that he couldn’t deny, but that didn’t mean he was scared of too many things either. At that moment, Chanyeol wasn’t part of those things that scared him.

 

On the contrary, as soon as façade shattered with only a few words he hadn’t even chosen with that intent, Baekhyun felt a deep wave of satisfaction drip into his veins and soothe the flames of anger that had been eating his flesh away all this time.

 

"Don’t fucking call it stupid if you know nothing about it," Chanyeol said, his low voice somehow dropping even lower, enough for Baekhyun to feel like his chest was a cave and that voice belonged to a lost traveler, echoing inside of it with enough force to waver its strong walls a bit. "At least you have a place to call home. Some people are starting to forget what home even smells like."

 

And with that, Chanyeol simply glared at Baekhyun a last time before turning around and walking away as if nothing had happened, his steps coordinated and quick but not as if he were running away but simply leaving because he didn’t feel like staying anymore.

 

The further he walked away, the more the satisfaction Baekhyun had felt for only a few seconds simmered down until there was nothing of it left. Instead, the urge to walk after Chanyeol and apologize was biting at his feet, trying to get him to move and do what felt like the right thing to do at the moment. But it wasn’t. Baekhyun knew it wasn’t. He knew this urge to apologize wasn’t something that he _wanted_ to yield to. Rather than that, it was something he was used to doing. Apologizing instantly when he was in the wrong, when people told him he was in the wrong, and even when deep down, he knew that he was far from being wrong.

 

He didn’t yield to it. Because Chanyeol didn’t deserve it and maybe it was selfish and a bit heartless of him but he was glad. He felt almost proud of himself for finally carving through the façade Chanyeol seemed to constantly carry on his face. Maybe he had hurt him with those words, maybe it had been wrong of him to say that, but it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter because why would Baekhyun even care about Chanyeol’s feelings if the latter never once thought about his feelings before dragging him into this whole mess?

 

Therefore, he bit down on his tongue hard, digging the sole of the oversized shoes he was wearing into the ground, and forced himself to stay where he was, silent. 

 

At least, he now knew that Chanyeol was really good at appearing a certain way, whether that be incredibly sweet and lovely, or disinterested and aloof. Maybe he’d learn to read him. A bitter taste spread through his mouth at the thought that he would eventually have to read Chanyeol. They would spend a lot of time together and he would have no choice but to learn if he wanted to reach the end of this unpleasant situation without any major damage.

 

He shouldn’t be the only one to adjust to the other, though. That was what he tried telling himself to make it easier to ignore the disappointment he couldn’t help but feel for having upset Chanyeol, at least.

 

"Damn, I should really start bringing popcorn with me whenever I’m hanging out with you guys," Jongdae said, breaking the silence that had settled over them for a few seconds after Chanyeol left.

 

Oddly, Jongdae’s casual and amused attitude towards this whole situation was a bit comforting. As was his offer to walk Baekhyun to Chanyeol’s apartment since the latter had taken off without even bothering to wait for him.

 

Maybe it would’ve been more comforting if Jongdae walked up to the apartment with him to stay a little bit longer as well. It felt suffocating to see Chanyeol ignoring him entirely to stare at a children’s cartoon playing on his tiny television in the living room. It felt even more suffocating to spend hours alone in the bedroom with nothing but his own thoughts and worries to accompany him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The odd sensation of goosebumps rising all over his whole body was what pulled Baekhyun out of sleep the next morning. It was unfamiliar and yet, even in his sleep, he was taken by a prickling sensation of déjà-vu that slowly drew him out of his slumber, pulling his eyebrows into a frown. He was tired, more emotionally than physically, and he wanted to sleep. 

 

He had had trouble sleeping again last night but this time, it wasn’t because he was probably surrounded by monsters. Every time he so much as closed his eyes for a few seconds, Chanyeol’s angry face flashed behind his closed eyelids and the more he remembered it, the more he noticed that anger hadn’t been the only flames flaring in those crimson eyes. There might have been a bit of pain. There might have been a very unfamiliar and unexpected emotion behind the words he had spat out at Baekhyun before turning his back and walking away.

 

The urge to apologize hadn’t left. Baekhyun’s stubborn decision not to apologize hadn’t yielded to the fight either. He hadn’t apologized. He wouldn’t apologize to someone who should apologize to _him_ first and not only for a single reason but many. 

 

Those thoughts were what had kept him up for most of the night and that morning, when Baekhyun felt that same gentle but sandy breeze tickling his face, he instantly recognized it. He opened his eyes and this time, when a powdery face was a breath away from his and beady eyes were staring right into his own, he didn’t feel an ounce of fear.

 

He blinked a few times, looking up at Jongdae in confusion through the sleepy haze veiling his gaze and mind. He was still hovering over Baekhyun, this whole scene was a repeat of what had happened only yesterday morning but this time, Baekhyun was confused.

 

"What are you doing?" he mumbled, pressing his hands against Jongdae’s hard, bony chest to push him away the same way he had done it yesterday morning.

 

This time, it wasn’t with fear and the impulse to kick a monster away from him and hide from it. This time, he was just bothered by the itch in his nose, the powder falling off Jongdae’s skin luring a sneeze out of him. It never happened though, the sneeze seemed stuck somewhere inside of him and that only felt worse.

 

"You’re no fun," Jongdae mumbled as he pulled away and moved to sit at the other end of the bed, a loud croak echoing in the room as he moved. He crossed his arm and looked at Baekhyun, his features displaying an odd mix between disappointment and amusement.

 

Baekhyun sat up in bed and ran a hand through his hair, fingers catching on a few knots. "How is letting your skin drip into my face fun? It’s disgusting," he couldn’t help but say, his last word lost in an almost-whine that matched the scrunched expression he gave the other.

 

As soon as he realized what he had said, he looked at Jongdae in alarm, lips instantly parting to let an apology out. Jongdae seemed to be the only person that was willing to treat him with kindness here and he didn’t want to upset him.

 

However, he didn’t seem to be upset by Baekhyun’s words the way he’d imagine Chanyeol would be at all. His smile only stretched into a wide grin.

 

"I’m pretty sure many people dream of having me drip on them and here you are, insulting your privilege," Jongdae shook his head, the sly curve of his lips indicating Baekhyun that those words had been chosen carefully. He was too relieved that Jongdae wasn’t upset at him to give the other a disgusted look. "I also wanted to hear that screech you let out yesterday again, it was a unique and beautiful melody," he shrugged, pulling a soft snort out of Baekhyun.

 

Baekhyun looked out of the window. It was still broken at the corner. The sky was still an odd color between grey and blue, cloudy and bare, artificial and real. He wondered what the weather was like back in the Above. He wondered if anyone had even noticed his absence. They probably hadn’t and if they had, he wasn’t sure it mattered. And even if it mattered, he knew for a fact that no one would find him if they happened to look for him.

 

He looked at the door. Chanyeol wasn’t standing there like he had been yesterday.

 

They hadn’t exchanged a single word at all last night. Baekhyun had been hungry after a few hours but hadn’t found it in himself to go and ask for food. He didn’t want Chanyeol to look at him with that same mocking grin and think that Baekhyun needed him to survive in this world, even if he supposed that was technically the truth. 

 

He looked at Jongdae again, narrowing his eyes with weak mirth and strong suspicion.

 

"You don’t feed from fear, do you?" 

 

Jongdae let out a small chuckle, narrowing his eyes right back at him.

 

"You’re not scared of me, are you," he retorted but it didn’t sound like a question. He sounded like he knew Baekhyun wasn’t scared of him. 

 

Baekhyun wondered if Jongdae waking him up that way had been a test from the other to check how Baekhyun felt about him. He wondered if Jongdae was disappointed or not. He hoped he wasn’t. 

 

He simply shrugged instead of giving the other a verbal answer.

 

"Well, no. I don’t feed from fear. No one really does besides her," Jongdae said and for the first time, Baekhyun wondered what had the Queen done to end up here without any major change in her appearance. 

 

"That’s reassuring," he said, instead of asking anything else.

 

"Are you hungry?"

 

"Not really," Baekhyun shook his head. The hunger from last night had faded away and it wouldn’t be the first time he’d spend too long without eating.

 

Jongdae simply hummed softly before getting up and dusting his shoulders off. He had white powder smeared on his dark blue hoodie. This one didn’t seem worn-out, the only damage he could see was on the few threads hanging loose from the sleeves that almost engulfed the other’s hands whole. Baekhyun could now figure out that all these clothes and maybe every human object in this monstrous world came from the breaches scattered around. Jongdae had talked about smugglers once.

 

Jongdae gave him a light smile before turning around and heading out of the bedroom.

 

"You should eat while you still can. You’re leaving tonight," he said over his shoulder, stepping out of the room.

 

"What? Where?" was the only thing Baekhyun answered, eyebrows furrowed. 

 

Then it came back to him. He was supposed to travel with Chanyeol on a journey he knew next to nothing about. And Chanyeol still seemed set on not asking Baekhyun’s opinion about things that could drastically affect his life. He sighed, all the irritation from yesterday hovering over his head like a dark, cursed cloud again as he kicked his thin blanket away and stood up to follow Jongdae.

 

"Why didn’t that jerk even tell me we’re leaving today," he couldn’t help but grumble as he walked into the kitchen where Jongdae was already pouring cereals into the same bowl as yesterday.

 

He looked up at Baekhyun when the latter walked into the kitchen and the human suddenly realized what he had just said, freezing in his tracks. He looked over his shoulder, hoping that Chanyeol hadn’t heard him. He didn’t know why he didn’t want Chanyeol to hear those words. It was no secret that Baekhyun didn’t see him as a particularly nice person. Maybe he just didn’t trust Chanyeol not to hurt him or even kick him out to the streets if he ever had enough of dealing with him.

 

Jongdae chuckled lightly, turning his attention back down to his dry cereals as he shoved a spoon inside.

 

"Don’t worry, he’s not here to hear you."

 

Baekhyun relaxed at those words, sighing softly. He was tired. He spent a few seconds trying to take the reigns over his mind and chase the blur in his head away before moving to grab a bowl from the cupboard. He settled across Jongdae and poured cereals into it before shoving a spoonful into his mouth, crunching on the dry, sugary bits that almost felt like tiny, fragile rocks in his mouth. The sound of his teeth crushing it all was loud, mixing in with the sound Jongdae himself made, but it wasn’t loud enough to drown out his thoughts.

 

They would leave tonight. That was alright. The sooner they’d be done with this, the sooner Baekhyun would be able to go back to the human world. Even if he was throwing himself into this journey blindly, not even knowing where they were going and what they would do. He didn’t even know why exactly Chanyeol needed him besides the fact that a human’s presence was required for a monster to gain a human appearance back. At least, that was what Chanyeol had heard from a _legend._ Baekhyun had never trusted legends. Except the ones his mother used to tell him about a merciful and generous God watching over them through their whole life. That was nothing but a legend. Baekhyun knew it now.

 

He glanced at Jongdae. He had devoured almost half of his cereals already. It was odd that he was here. He seemed to always be here and acted as if he were in his own house.

 

"Do you live here?" he asked after a short silence broken by the scrunching of cereals in their mouth.

 

"Nope," Jongdae said, looking at him. He blinked and white powder dusted over his cereals. Baekhyun kept his eyes away from it, hesitating before bringing another spoonful of cereals to his own mouth. "What makes you say that?"

 

"Well, you’re always here," he shrugged.

 

"There’s not much to do here when you’re alone," Jongdae chuckled. "So I just usually hang out with Chanyeol. His television is bigger than mine so I spend a lot of time here."

 

"You seem really close," Baekhyun said, a bit awkwardly since he was curious about their friendship but didn’t know how to breach the subject.

 

"We are. I’ve known him since his first day here. I like to think that I helped him adjust." 

 

It was odd, Baekhyun thought. Chanyeol didn’t look like someone who’d need to actually take time to adjust to anything. He always looked so confident but he supposed that was a façade. He seemed to be good at building those and painting them whatever color he wanted others to see. 

 

"Where is he even?" he couldn’t help but ask when curiosity won over him after a few more silent seconds. The only time Jongdae didn’t seem to have anything to say or laugh about was when he was eating his cereals.

 

"He left," the other simply replied as he scooped up the last few cereals left, his spoon tinkling loudly against the bowl.

 

He pushed it away as soon as he was done, leaning back against the chair that croaked a bit under his weight.

 

"Did he go to the castle?" Baekhyun tried again once Jongdae’s full attention was on him, his beady eyes looking at Baekhyun as he leisurely munched on his cereals. Baekhyun wondered if he could even actually taste the food.

 

"Yep," was the only thing he said after swallowing the food.

 

He hadn’t expected Jongdae to give him such short replies. Not when he had been the one to explain most things about this world to Baekhyun since yesterday. Was this a topic he didn’t want to breach on? He wasn’t outright rejecting it though, on the contrary, Baekhyun felt as if he was being observed. He couldn’t really know, Jongdae had no pupils, no visible ones at least, so it was difficult to tell what he was really looking at most of the time.

 

Either way, Baekhyun needed answers. He deserved answers. He never asked questions, he always obeyed, and he always stayed away from the consequences even if sometimes, he couldn’t bring himself to just shut up and take it but all of that was back in the Above. It was different here. Baekhyun wasn’t different, he wouldn’t change overnight, but he was tired and if he was going to risk his life for something that wouldn’t even benefit him without being given the choice to refuse, then he at least deserved to understand what was going on.

 

And he wasn’t stupid either. He didn’t know much about this world but he wasn’t stupid and some things were starting to grow less foggy even if almost everything about this place was still a confused blur in his mind.

 

"Is that the deal he made with her for the portals?" he asked softly, hesitantly, because he wanted to know, he deserved to know, but he still half expected Jongdae to laugh and tell him that it was none of his business.

 

The other simply looked at him for a silent second, observing. Baekhyun grew restless under his gaze. It was next to impossible to know what Jongdae was thinking about. His eyes were blank, entirely black, like a void, and there was no emotion for Baekhyun to read in there. 

 

"What makes you think so?" Jongdae said after a while, arms crossed over his chest. 

 

The sleeve of his hoodie rode up his arm a little and Baekhyun caught a glimpse of what looked like a bone. His wrist was so fin, almost as if only a thin layer separated it from Jongdae’s bones, or maybe almost as if Jongdae was nothing but bones. The pale, sickly, powdery color of Jongdae’s skin certainly made it look like bones. It now made sense that Jongdae liked to wear oversized clothing.

 

"He doesn’t seem… to like her very much?" he said, his tone unwillingly sliding towards a question. He wasn’t sure whether he was upsetting Jongdae with this topic or not. He didn’t want to upset the other. "You said she gave the location of the portals in exchange of something, right? That she makes a deal with people. I think she also mentioned something like a meeting with him today so I can imagine him spending today with her in exchange of the a portal’s location. She seems fond of him," he added as an afterthought when remembering how her whole attitude had changed when talking to Chanyeol instead of a crowd of worshippers.

 

It took him a second to realize that silence had settled over them after his words and another second to grow self-conscious about what he had just said. Jongdae was still observing him silently and Baekhyun fiddled with his spoon, glancing at the other but mainly keeping his eyes on the half-full bowl of cereals. 

 

Why had he even said all that? It wasn’t his place to make speculations about Chanyeol’s life to someone who so clearly seemed to be a close friend, if not a best friend. And maybe it was all in his head. Maybe every single theory he had spilled out was completely nonsensical and Jongdae would burst into laughter and make fun of him the same way half of the classroom had laughed at him for what felt like a whole hour when he had once tried to raise his hand and give the answer to a question the teacher had asked about a novel in literature class.

 

He fidgeted a bit, the silence throwing him off. Should he apologize? Should he take everything back? He didn’t need answers. He didn’t deserve answers, did he? It didn’t matter. He didn’t need to protest or ask or comment or do anything. The safest way was to keep it in, ignore it, and let it pass.

 

"You’re smarter than I thought," Jongdae suddenly said and when Baekhyun’s head snapped up to look at him with a startle, he had a light smile on his face. His words washed over Baekhyun and soothed his tense body like the first droplets of a warm shower on the evening of the coldest day of the coldest season. "But you’re not entirely right."

 

That didn’t matter. Somehow, the fact that Jongdae had slipped in a tiny, almost insignificant praise in there was enough for Baekhyun to feel a smile threatening to split his face into two. He bit onto his lower lip before showing a spoonful of cereals into his mouth, savoring the sweet, sugary taste spreading over his tongue.

 

"He indeed made that deal with her more than a year ago," Jongdae continued and the smile was still on his face but it looked a bit less lively. "She gave him one of her Whistling Portals in exchange of Chanyeol spending a whole day with her every three days and, I suppose, doing whatever she asks for in the time they spend together."

 

"A year ago?" he asked, surprised. That was far from what he had expected. He had thought that today would be the only day Chanyeol exchanged for their deal.

 

"It’s been a year since Chanyeol started all of this," Jongdae shrugged and he seemed to try appearing nonchalant but Baekhyun could see on the furrow of his eyebrows that he didn’t like this situation.

 

He could understand, to some extent. Spending so much time with the Queen for a whole year didn’t seem very pleasant or even safe, considering how deranged and dangerous she seemed.

 

It also didn’t make much sense to him. It almost felt desperate. It almost felt as if Chanyeol was ready to do anything in order to reach his goal. He didn’t even seem to like the Queen. He had seemed worried through her speech outside the castle and even if he had acted like a seductive, almost enamored man in front of her, that behavior had vanished as soon as they had stepped out of the castle. He had a hard time associating despair to Chanyeol and yet, he wasn’t surprised. Chanyeol seemed to be so much more different than what he let on.

 

"But why would he do that?" Baekhyun asked, cereals now forgotten as his whole attention was given to Jongdae again. "I mean, she can obviously summon him whenever she wants, right? That’s what she did yesterday so why would she need to make a deal to spend time with him? She doesn’t really benefit from it."

 

"She was saner a year ago, when they first made that deal," Jongdae sighed, pursing his lips afterwards. "She wasn’t as authoritative. She didn’t just do whatever she wanted to without letting anyone question her. She changed overtime. You probably noticed that she’s a little crazy."

 

"She does seem a bit… odd," Baekhyun settled on, not really wanting to say much as he had only seen her for a short while first the first time yesterday.

 

"She’s just crazy. Mad with power," Jongdae snorted. "She’s never been very sane but the power just got to her head and now, she’s grown paranoiac and her reign is mainly based on fear. No one really knows why she acts that way, she’s just really controlling and violent. A bit of a tyrant. You probably noticed that too."

 

"Are you talking about the Sentenced Souls thing?" he asked, recalling the event they had talked about yesterday. An event during which those who disobeyed or rebelled against her were publicly tortured.

 

"That and many other things," Jongdae shrugged. "She wasn’t this way a year ago, she only grew mad recently and it keeps worsening everyday. That’s why Chanyeol probably acted as if he was going to offer you to her."

 

"What do you mean?" Baekhyun frowned, voice hardening a bit at the reminder of what had happened yesterday.

 

"He probably just tried flattering her. She’s very controlling over him, everyone knows how she sees him as some kind of possession," Jongdae explained, jawline tense. That could explain why the other monsters acted as if they feared Chanyeol. "She wouldn’t have agreed to letting him leave for too long if he hadn’t played his cards well. I guess she’s the only one he can still use his skills on."

 

"Skills?" Baekhyun repeated, intrigued.

 

Jongdae seemed to realize he had let something slip, freezing for a second during which he bit onto his lower lip, debating with himself. He sighed a bit, leaning a tad closer to Baekhyun over the table as if he was about to share a secret with him.

 

"I’m sure you don’t know and I’m also pretty sure I shouldn’t say this but it might make it easier for you to understand everything," he started, slowly, almost taking a break between each of his words. He was hesitant and Baekhyun felt his heart beating the slightest bit faster in anticipation.

 

"I’m listening," he said, urging the other to continue.

 

Jongdae hesitated a little bit before sighing again.

 

"Chanyeol used to be some kind of con-man," Jongdae said and oddly, Baekhyun barely felt any kind of surprise at those words. "He used to rely on his appearance for everything, he used to swindle dozens of people with nothing but his face and the right words pronounced with the right tone. I don’t know the extent of it, but I know that he basically had no one. He only every survived through the money he swindled out of people, mostly women I suppose, and he was really successful."

 

"But you’re a con-man too," he said softly, puzzled. "And I can see it in how you look now. The medicine can be seen in your appearance, it’s easy to associate it with your appearance. Nothing in the way Chanyeol looks indicates what sin he committed to end up here."

 

He could more easily understand things now. The way he had trusted Baekhyun so quickly on that first day and the way the Queen had acted as if Chanyeol had pronounced every single word she wanted to hear from him made sense but what he didn’t understand was why Jongdae even felt it important to confide this information to him. Chanyeol had refused to tell him too.

 

He knew Jongdae’s sins had led to many deaths and that was why he looked this way. If Chanyeol had committed similar sins, he should’ve looked equally as monstrous. Unless there was some kind of degree in the system. He had noticed that some monsters looked much more monstrous than others.

 

"When he first arrived here, Chanyeol was a mess," Jongdae explained and maybe he wasn’t really a heartless sinner. Maybe he cared enough about Chanyeol to look a bit sad as he recalled those times. "He _lived_ through his appearance. His appearance was everything to him. But now, he looks nothing like he used to. He’s a monster, the complete opposite of what he looked like when alive. Sometimes, you don’t need to look like a monstrous creature for your sin to flash through your mind every time you catch a glimpse of yourself."

 

"Not looking like himself is enough for him to think he looks like a monster," Baekhyun said, realization lowering his voice to a whisper.

 

"He hates it. It’s destroying him and maybe you can’t understand but I’ve been there. I’ve seen him when he first saw his reflection after arriving here and broke down," Jongdae said, the memory obviously painful enough for him to take a deep breath in. Baekhyun swallowed down something that lodged itself in his throat. It wasn’t sadness. Maybe it was just pity. "There’s no mirror in this house. He hates them. He hates the way he looks and he’s been obsessed with gaining his human appearance back ever since he first heard that legend. He doesn’t even want to become human and leave this world, he just wants to _look_ human."

 

And it made sense. The way Chanyeol seemed to get upset every time Baekhyun so much as mentioned his monstrous appearance made sense.

 

"I know it doesn’t excuse how much of an asshole he can be sometimes and I’m really not trying to justify or defend him. He’s an asshole to you most of the time," Jongdae said and Baekhyun didn’t miss the faint emphasis on the word _you._ "I just hope you’ll try understanding him a little bit."

 

Somehow, this revelation suddenly made Chanyeol look weaker than Baekhyun thought he was. 

Not in any kind of mocking or condescending way. He just suddenly felt a little more _human_ to Baekhyun. No matter how surprising it was that someone like Chanyeol put such a huge importance into his appearance and to how people viewed him, Baekhyun couldn’t help but sympathize with him. To some extent, he could understand how it felt to fear people’s opinion about his appearance but that didn’t seem to be the case with Chanyeol. Maybe Chanyeol’s own opinion of himself mattered much more than anyone else’s.

 

"Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t talk back to him and shut him up by giving me an entertaining show. I stocked up on the popcorn, you know," Jongdae said to break the suffocating silence, the tension and hesitancy fading away entirely to let his usual amused smile spread on his lips.

 

This time, Baekhyun couldn’t find it in himself to laugh naturally at the other’s words, his mind lingering on how unexpected and different Chanyeol turned out to be. Maybe Baekhyun was stuck in a world full of monsters but Chanyeol seemed to be stuck in a world where the only monstrosity he feared and ran away from was his own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of the day was fortunately spent in a better mood, no more mentions of Chanyeol’s past and behavior were made and Jongdae had been nice enough to entertain Baekhyun on what he supposed would be his last day ever in Chanyeol’s apartment.

 

He had somehow dumped an old Nintendo DS into Baekhyun’s hands, one that was far from being the latest model out in the human world and that had scratches all over and a crack on the upper screen, but still a highly entertaining toy in this world. Baekhyun had been delighted to find out that the only game Jongdae had brought with him was Mario Kart as that was an all-times classic and Baekhyun, no matter his age, would never say no to a race.

 

They had spent most of the day playing and watching television and to others that might’ve sounded like the most boring thing to do but to someone like Baekhyun who had never spent an hour, much less a whole day, playing with a friend and laughing and just having fun, it had probably been one of the best days of his life. He didn’t know much about Jongdae, they had a really different sense of humor too, but he was fun to be around. He was kind, as unexpected as that was, and he didn’t mind replying to Baekhyun’s various questions about this world either.

 

Therefore, when at the end of the day, once Jongdae had told him that he would have to leave now to give him time to rest for the journey, Baekhyun hadn’t forgotten to ask if he would accompany them through an adventure that he knew Jongdae could make a hundred times more pleasant with his presence alone. His heart had sunk deep into his stomach when the other had given him an apologetic smile and replied that there was no way for him to leave with them but that he would wait for their return.

 

Baekhyun hadn’t said anything. He didn’t know if he would ever come back here and see Jongdae. Chanyeol was supposed to send him back up to the Above as soon as they were done and he might not have time to pay a last visit to Jongdae. He hadn’t expected disappointment to clench around his heart at that though but it had. Jongdae could’ve been a really good friend to him in another universe.

 

Knowing that he would be alone with Chanyeol for an unknown amount of time also didn’t make him feel more comfortable about this whole situation either and once again, Baekhyun found himself unable to sleep that night. It wasn’t even night. He didn’t know what time it was, the lights were still on outside but there wasn’t as many people in the streets so he supposed it was considered nighttime.

 

Jongdae’s words still lingered in his mind. He still couldn’t fully understand Chanyeol. He still really couldn’t understand why he behaved like that. He barely could make any sense of his obvious obsession with gaining back his old, original appearance. And yet, he couldn’t deny the fact that he felt just a bit bad about it all. It was stupid, really stupid, but he couldn’t help but try and understand how Chanyeol must feel. 

 

That didn’t mean he forgave him for anything and would suddenly start being nice and understanding to him either. Overall, Chanyeol just seemed like a child being mean to others just because he wasn’t happy with something and maybe _that_ was mean of Baekhyun to think that way but he couldn’t help it.

 

As he laid on the uncomfortable bed for the third night in a row, Baekhyun was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by the abrupt sound of the entrance door opening loudly and closing again right afterwards. It must be Chanyeol, he thought, while looking at the closed door of the bedroom as if that would help him hear better whatever was going on outside. Footsteps reached his ears, heavy and stuttering but not the same way his father’s angry footsteps sounded after a day spent drinking and an evening ruined by the slightly too loud sound Baekhyun might accidentally make from behind his bedroom’s closed door.

 

It sounded tired. Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows a little but didn’t move, as if out of habit, simply listening and wondering why Chanyeol sounded so tired by his footsteps alone. The next thing he heard was a heavy thump, the characteristic sound of someone dropping heavily on the floor not loud enough to drown out a soft groan. It sounded pained. Baekhyun sat up in bed, intrigued. 

 

It was silent for a few seconds and Baekhyun contemplated simply going back to trying to sleep but right when he was about to lay back down, he heard another groan of pain, this time a bit louder. He bit onto his lower lip in hesitation. What had happened to him? Had the Queen done something? Or had he been attacked by monsters? That didn’t make sense. Everyone seemed to fear Chanyeol and he knew now that it was because of how much the Queen liked him so there was next to no chance for him to be attacked. He had spent the whole day with the Queen. He had left early this morning and it was late now, or at least he supposed it was late.

 

Something settled right against his chest, pressing down with contradicting forces. One side of him wanted to lay back down and go to sleep while the other felt like checking up on Chanyeol would be the rightest thing to do. He wasn’t heartless. Chanyeol might be mean but he at least gave him food and a roof to sleep under. Even if it was for completely selfish reasons.

 

Chanyeol was really selfish. Maybe he deserved whatever had happened to him for Baekhyun to hear something that sounded like a pained hiss again. He sounded hurt. No one deserved to be hurt. At least, not _everyone._ But was Chanyeol part of those Baekhyun deemed deserving of pain?

 

He took a deep breath in, closing his eyes for a second as he threw his blanket away and stood up in a sharp movement, decision made. Slowly and as quietly as possible, Baekhyun stepped towards the door and opened it inch by inch, making sure that it wouldn’t groan like it usually did because of the age and lack of care. He didn’t have to actually help Chanyeol. He was just curious, he just needed to see what was wrong and then he could go back to bed.

 

He slowly stepped out of the bedroom and headed towards the living room, the bare floor cold even through the fabric of his socks. The light was on in the living room, dim and an ugly yellow shade that actually made it difficult to see properly for a few seconds until you got used to it but as soon as Baekhyun stood at the doorway and laid his gaze on Chanyeol, he couldn’t help but let out a small, surprised gasp.

 

Chanyeol was indeed sitting on one of the pillows on either side of the coffee table in the living room, back turned to Baekhyun and fully displaying a sight that pulled Baekhyun’s stomach into a knot. He was shirtless, the blue expanse of his broad back and shoulders bared, the few scales scattered around the skin like shells at the bottom of a crystal clear and dark ocean gleaming under the light. However, their gleam wasn’t enough to conceal the horrible lashes cutting through Chanyeol’s back.

 

There were long, short, thick, and thin slits all over his back, some of them in parallel lines, others crossing together, the skin cut to reveal the angry red flesh underneath. There was no blood, at least nothing that looked like blood, but a purple liquid was glistening on the openings of Chanyeol’s flesh, not dripping over his skin but just resting there, painfully contrasting with his blue skin. There wasn’t only cuts all over his back, however, his skin seemed to be burned in some parts, patches of black staining the blue, along with traces of green of a slightly similar shade as the few scales on his skin but less bright. There were bruises, big, small, long, and horrifying. 

 

Baekhyun caught sight of what looked like a first-aid kit on the table and Chanyeol had a tiny ball of cotton soaked in product in his hand as he seemed to struggle to press it against the lashes on his shoulders. A tiny, barely audible hiss escaped his lips when his hand slipped and the tips of his long black claws pressed into one of the cuts. Baekhyun remembered how Jongdae had said that monsters couldn’t feel physical pain unless it was something close to an agonizing level.

 

Nausea stirred in his stomach, horror singing off-tune through his mind, and Chanyeol must’ve heard him because in the next second, he looked up over his shoulder in a sharp movement, gaze falling on Baekhyun. He suddenly felt like he had violated the other’s privacy when Chanyeol’s eyes widened in surprise before what looked like shame whizzed through his features only for a frown to wipe everything away almost immediately.

 

"Why aren’t you asleep?" he mumbled while dropping the cotton and grabbing what seemed to be a clean shirt resting on one of the pillows scattered on the floor around the table.

 

He pulled it on quickly, covering everything up. It seemed to hurt. His features were tense, his body was tense.

 

"Are you okay?" was the only stupid thing Baekhyun could ask, panic preventing him from forming any other smarter sentence as he saw those same lashes and the bruises and the burns and the purple blood each time he blinked.

 

He took a step closer to Chanyeol but the latter turned his back to him and started gathering the few already stained cotton pads together, tidying up the small box.

 

"Go back to sleep," he said, voice low and tense. 

 

He wasn’t looking at Baekhyun. The latter frowned and stepped closer. He shouldn’t put a shirt on when his wounds were still open and unprotected. It would stick to the skin and make everything even more painful. Baekhyun knew. He had learned it years ago.

 

"Do you need help? That looked really painful and you can’t possibly clean that up by yourself. I can help if you—"

 

"I don’t need your help, Baekhyun," Chanyeol cut him off, glaring at him over his shoulder for a second. His crimson eyes flared enough to breathe fire into the air separating them and push Baekhyun to take a step back. "Just go to bed. We’re leaving in the morning."

 

Baekhyun should insist. He should insist for Chanyeol’s own well-being. But the other seemed to know what he was doing, this didn’t seem to be the first time he found himself in that state, and Baekhyun knew that feeling. He didn’t know what had exactly happening but he had a small idea and he knew that feeling.

 

However, Chanyeol didn’t want his help. He had offered, even if part of him knew Chanyeol probably didn’t even deserve his help. It looked painful and Baekhyun wasn’t heartless, especially not after the conversation he had earlier with Jongdae but Chanyeol had pushed him back harshly at the first small step Baekhyun tried taking towards him.

 

And even then, it made sense. It suddenly made sense that Chanyeol wanted to leave. He wanted to leave and he couldn’t. Even if he left, he probably would have to come back here and suffer. Unless he could become human again.

 

Baekhyun swallowed down any word that yearned to escape his mouth and collide against Chanyeol. He swallowed down the pity. He swallowed down the sympathy. He locked away the thought that maybe, just maybe Chanyeol wasn’t much different from him. If Chanyeol didn’t want help, if he wasn’t willing to cooperate, Baekhyun had no reason to try too hard. 

 

He simply turned around and walked back to his room, nestling under the covers of a bed that belonged to Chanyeol but that the latter hadn’t even once tried kicking Baekhyun out of despite their arguments and the obvious dislike he nurtured towards the monster.

 

That night, Baekhyun had trouble sleeping again. 

 

That night, Baekhyun kept his ears wide open not to catch up on any possible monstrous threat coming his way but to listen to the now quieter, barely audible pained sounds coming from the living room.

 

That night, the edges of the blue smile and the crimson gaze occupying his mind and scaring sleep away didn’t feel as sharp as usual. 


	5. Chapter Four

"We’re late."

 

"We’re not."

 

"We are. Because you couldn’t wake up on time," Chanyeol retorted, throwing him a heated glare over his shoulder.

 

He had a hole on the shoulder of his hoodie, a dollop of blue skin transpiring on an otherwise black stretch of fabric. His red eyes were sharp, bright in the dim world they were walking through. His hair looked even paler than usual now that the lampposts had lost their yellowish tint and had gained a whiter, harsher one. Baekhyun didn’t question why lampposts were planted in the middle of a forest.

 

He only questioned how Chanyeol could put the blame on him in a situation where he had done nothing wrong. Except for oversleeping _only_ because Chanyeol hadn’t given him the exact time they had to leave at. He didn’t even know if time could be measured in the Cave.

 

Choosing not to give the other an answer, Baekhyun quickened his pace to catch up to him. He adjusted the straps of his old backpack on his shoulders. It was heavy, Chanyeol had thrown it to him before dragging him out of the house hours ago. Or maybe an hour ago. He didn’t know. He was pretty sure Chanyeol was walking that fast, a few steps ahead of him, to show off the fact that he was taller than Baekhyun and make him feel bad about it.

 

Chanyeol looked in front of him again and continued walking. He had a similar backpack, a bit bigger than Baekhyun’s, one that looked like an actual traveling bag filled to the brim and bulging against his back. There was a dirty, wooden bat strapped to its side, hanging low and bumping against the back of Chanyeol’s thigh as he walked.

 

The silence only lasted a few seconds.

 

"We should’ve left earlier. I told you we had to leave early in the morning."

 

He sounded like a broken record. Baekhyun would very much like to step on that broken record until it completely shut off and never croaked again.

 

"Well, I’m sorry I had trouble sleeping in a world full of monster _and_ a horrifying Schmurf sleeping in the room right next to mine," he snapped, voice whipping in the air with exasperation.

 

He was tired of Chanyeol blaming things on him. He was tired of Chanyeol treating him like this. It reminded him too much of high school. He didn’t want to think about high school. His stomach twisted into tight knots. The only good thing about being dragged into the Cave was that he didn’t have to deal with high school anymore. 

 

Yet, Chanyeol seemed to do everything he could to bring high school here and mock Baekhyun and subtly insult him and blame him for stuff that had nothing to do with him and make him feel so helpless when Baekhyun knew for sure he wasn’t supposed to feel helpless and he hated it.

 

Chanyeol’s gaze was sharp when it found his again. His mouth was hidden behind his shoulder as he looked back at Baekhyun but it wasn’t difficult to imagine that snarl pulling his lips into an askew line. Baekhyun wasn’t sure whether what pulled at the knots on his stomach was guilt or satisfaction. It wasn’t difficult to figure out that his monstrous appearance was Chanyeol’s weakness after what Jongdae had informed him of.

 

"Stop fantasizing," Chanyeol replied, voice dripping with that same, gutting mockery. "I have no plan to barge into your room while you’re sleeping. I’m not interested in you at all."

 

"Thank god, you aren’t."

 

He hated himself just a little bit when his voice came out weaker than he would’ve wanted it to. He hated this way Chanyeol had of talking even more. He sounded mocking and humiliating even when his words seemed to carry none of those connotations. It was all in the tone. He didn’t even need to use harsh words for Baekhyun to simultaneously want to bash his head against one of the  big rocks on their pathway and close his ears off to prevent Chanyeol’s voice from reaching him.

 

"I already told you there’s nothing to thank God for," Chanyeol mumbled.

 

His voice was deep enough for even mumbles to sound like full sentences.

 

Baekhyun was tired. This unending childish bickering was starting to drain him out. He sighed, bringing a hand up to rub one eye, the fabric of his hoodie harsh against his closed lid. It was one of Chanyeol’s. He had given it to him this morning without a single word along with a pair of jeans and worn out sneakers. The clothes were too big on him, the jeans fit at the waist but he had to roll the cuffs to avoid tripping and the hoodie was oversized enough for him to swim in coziness, the sleeves devouring his hands almost entirely. This one had no holes in it.

 

Chanyeol could be confusing sometimes. Their arguments felt like mindless bickering sometimes, innocent, as if Chanyeol had no other intention but to entertain himself through irritating Baekhyun. Most of the time, his words were so spot on as they planted in Baekhyun’s pride or other various painful parts of him that it was as if he had chosen them carefully, with the aim of wounding in mind.

 

Either way, they would have to spend a lot of time together. Baekhyun didn’t think he’d be able to keep his mind in check if at least one of them didn’t make the effort to appease and adjust to the other. He supposed he could only count on himself.

 

He wasn’t sure how, though. He had no idea how to talk to Chanyeol. He seemed too easy to upset and anger, he was too inclined on keeping a mean barrier between them. Beyond that, Baekhyun had never been good at making friends. If he had, maybe he wouldn’t have wished the entire school would burn down to ashes throughout his entire education.

 

He sighed again, looking down at his feet and kicking at a small stone along the pathway they were taking. The air was odd, light at times and heavy at others, clear in his lungs only for him to feel suffocated by smoke on the next breath he took. He was getting used to it. He had lost the dizziness since the first time they had stepped through the town’s gates.

 

They were walking through a forest, one similar to the one Baekhyun had been laying in the middle of after Chanyeol had dragged him under his bed. There were translucent dust particles flying around from time to time, the trees were crooked and frozen in time. The sandy, stony pathway they were walking on sometimes turned into huge boulders they had to climb up. It would be much easier to walk on the grass surrounding the pathway. It was black, long and bushy, sometimes even looked gooey, but it would be better than an irregular path.

 

Chanyeol never suggested it and Baekhyun never questioned why. He didn’t want to be shut off meanly again. He had had enough meanness to last him a lifetime.

 

Maybe Chanyeol would open up to him if he made more efforts. They would spend a lot of time together. They had to get along better. Or else, Baekhyun would lose his sanity before they reached their destination, whatever or wherever that was.

 

After what felt like painfully long and silent minutes spent walking and wishing Chanyeol’s long legs would trip and give Baekhyun occasion to be the one mocking the other, he finally spoke.

 

"Is there even a morning here?" he wondered, doing his best to sound casual and not reticent. He looked up at the sky. It looked like it would rain soon. It hadn’t rained even once since Baekhyun fell into this world. He hadn’t caught a single glimpse of a sun either. "It’s always grey."

 

"There’s no time in the Cave," Chanyeol answered. Baekhyun couldn’t see his face but even if he could, he wouldn’t be able to decipher his tone. "There’s no hour. There’s no day and night either."

 

"Then how do you know when’s morning and night?" he questioned, eyebrows furrowed.

 

Was Chanyeol blaming him for being late in the morning when there wasn’t even any morning? That sounded probable. Infuriating but very probable.

 

Suddenly, Baekhyun was walking next to Chanyeol. He wasn’t sure if he had sped up unknowingly or if Chanyeol had slowed down so they could have a proper conversation without his back being Baekhyun’s only interlocutor. 

 

He was holding onto the straps of his bag, red eyes attentively trailing around and in front of him.

 

"We use the wind," he said.

 

"The wind?" Baekhyun repeated, urging him for details when he said nothing else for a moment.

 

Chanyeol kicked at a small stone barring his path and replied only when it fell on the grass and seemed to disappear entirely. As if sucked under the ground. 

 

"The wind gets louder and stronger at one point in the day. It whistles. That’s when the Whistling Portals are open. That’s when we consider it night here, because they only open when it’s night in the Above."

 

"Is that what I used to hear in my room at night?" Baekhyun asked, throat clenched around his words. It hadn’t been the wind whistling through a small opening in his window, after all. It was a completely different kind of window. A door. A trap.

 

Chanyeol glanced at him. Their eyes met and Baekhyun almost tripped on his own feet. Chanyeol looked like a video game character. His eyes were too enlivened, too real, too _alive_. It was difficult to remember he was a monster when he looked into those red eyes. He didn’t look too horrifying. He was one of the rare monsters in the Cave that Baekhyun had noticed having human features and hidden monstrosity.

 

He nodded and looked away again. Baekhyun followed his sightline. A few meters away, he could make out the faint shape of rocks again. They would have to climb. Chanyeol had actually replied to his question. He cleared his throat. It felt looser than earlier.

 

"But how can that work?" he questioned after a few seconds again. His voice sounder stronger this time. "You said the portals open only at night in the Above. Isn’t it always night in some part of the world? That means at least one portal should constantly be open."

 

"The portals don’t open everywhere around the world," Chanyeol said. "Most of them only open in   a few Asian countries. The Queen isn’t powerful enough to breach into the entire world yet."

 

The Queen. Baekhyun should ask more about the Queen. About the state of Chanyeol’s back, the bruises and the lashes after he came back from the castle. He didn’t.

 

"How do you measure time then?" he asked instead because at least, that was a topic Chanyeol seemed to be willing to discuss.

 

"We don’t. There’s no use to measuring time when you only have eternity until your soul wastes away and you either become a shell of yourself or a complete mindless monster."

 

Baekhyun felt his stomach churning at that. There was no particular tone to Chanyeol’s voice, none that he could make out, at least. He didn’t sound resilient, nor angry. Just blank. Maybe accepting and neutral.

 

"Do you really have no chance of going to Heaven? Or being reborn? Or anything like that?"

 

Chanyeol sighed loudly, looking at him again. Baekhyun had the despicable urge to recoil into himself. He hated eye contact. Had he offended Chanyeol? Was there no Heaven? Was being reborn and having a few different lifetimes a myth? It could be. Everything Baekhyun thought he knew about the Afterlife turned out to be bullshit. This could be too. It probably was. He had offended Chanyeol. They were making progress. And Baekhyun had ruined it. Apologize. He should apologize.

 

Chanyeol spoke again before he could, his steady voice cutting through the panic crawling into Baekhyun’s ears and drowning everything else out.

 

"The Almighty isn’t as merciful as everyone Above thinks," he said, reaching out to the crooked branches from the trees that were bended over the pathway. He pushed them away to clear the path and held onto them until Baekhyun passed through as well. "This actually is some kind of business."

 

"You mean God is some kind of CEO?" Baekhyun snorted at the image of an old wise man dressed in white drapes sitting in a room full of businessmen in suits.

 

"Kinda," Chanyeol said and Baekhyun looked at him incredulously. "He barely does anything. The High Counsel of Angels takes care of everything."

 

"Angels exist," Baekhyun deadpanned, reaching out to push away a long branch. It clung to his skin for a bit, pulling when he let go of it. He looked at his hand, grateful to see no bruise or blister.

 

"They do. They take care of every single branch of the Afterlife. There’s many of them," Chanyeol hummed.

 

Baekhyun looked at him, chewing on his lower lip.

 

"Could you explain?"

 

Chanyeol looked back at him. He seemed to consider it for a second, his red eyes studying Baekhyun for a moment before he looked ahead of him again.

 

"Remember that guy dressed in white when the Queen was giving her speech?"

 

Baekhyun raked his brain for a second. That seemed like months ago. He did remember a man who looked much too pure and unfitting in a world of monsters. He had been standing right besides the Queen both in front of the castle and in the throne room. He had been the one to announce her arrival or presence in both instances.

 

"Brown hair?" he asked, just to make sure.

 

"Yep. Taemin," Chanyeol said with a furrow to his eyebrows. "He’s the Angel in charge of the Cave."

 

That made sense. Baekhyun should’ve figured that this world was too complex for a single, albeit almighty, entity to direct it all properly. Maybe God wasn’t that almighty. Maybe if he was, monsters wouldn’t exist at all.

 

"But if he obeys to God, then why does he let the Queen… act like a queen?" Baekhyun couldn’t help but voice out his confusion.

 

Jongdae had said that God was probably not even aware of what was happening in the Cave but it didn’t make sense. If that Angel was in charge of it, then he should’ve reported it to God or at least, he shouldn’t support the Queen so much that he personally screamed her title so loudly wherever she went.

 

Chanyeol shrugged. He didn’t reply to Baekhyun’s question but continued speaking.

 

"There is the possibility of rebirth. That branch’s called the Rebirth Fountain but no one gets reborn instantly. You have to wait and then again, only good souls get a chance at another life. Even if that new life might turn them into rotten souls."

 

"And where do they go while waiting then? Heaven?" Baekhyun asked curiously.

 

It took Chanyeol a while to reply because they reached the boulders on the pathway and he seemed to be struggling just as much as Baekhyun. It wasn’t high per se, they wouldn’t break a bone if hey were to fall. Or at least, Baekhyun wouldn’t break a bone. He wasn’t sure if Chanyeol had bones.

 

The tricky part was not to let his feet slip. He could fall or twist his ankle and that was the last thing he needed at the moment so he flailed his arms around for balance and never strayed his gaze away from where he pressed his feet.

 

"There are good branches. What you call Heaven is split into different places," Chanyeol said, voice sounding distant. He was entirely focused too. The bags weighing on their backs didn’t make this easier. "Children and good souls who have an affinity with children end up in the Children’s Garden. Souls who are pure and kindhearted end up in the Angels’ Arch. That’s where they get trained to become angels and then are sent to the Above as guardians."

 

"There are guardian angels?" Baekhyun couldn’t help but blurt out with incredulity as he whipped his head up to look at Chanyeol.

 

The suddenness of the movement caused him to lose his balance, feet slipping on a pointy rock and sending him forward a little. He reached to grab the closest thing and prevent himself from falling, a soft gasp escaping his mouth but relief filling him up when he supported himself and managed to gain strength on his footing again.

 

Once safe, he looked at what his hands were holding. It was Chanyeol’s arm. He was looking at Baekhyun over his shoulder with a quirked eyebrow, his silver hair curtaining his eyes but not concealing the judgement nestled there. Baekhyun immediately let go of him.

 

"Sorry," he mumbled, breaking the eye contact and letting his gaze hide on the tip of his sneakers. There was a hole, he could see a tiny splotch of white sock lost in the midst of the black fabric.

 

He heard a snort. He hadn’t heard it in a while. It was still as unpleasant as the last time. Chanyeol resumed walking and Baekhyun paid extra care to where he pressed his feet, avoiding the smaller and pointier rocks.

 

"There are guardian angels but the Above is too crowded," Chanyeol said, resuming both his explanations and his climbing up the rocks as if nothing had happened. Baekhyun was relieved he hadn’t gotten a mocking remark. "There’s not enough angels so more than half of the population doesn’t have a guardian, from what I heard. But that was last year, I don’t know if the ratio increased or not since then. Then there’s the Delighted Isles. That’s where they dump the rest of the good people. I guess that’s the closest thing to the idea of Heaven."

 

"It all sounds so complicated," Baekhyun commented, heaving the strap of his bag up his shoulder with a groan. "I guess the Cave isn’t the only place for the bad souls either then." His voice lowered on the last part of his sentence, hesitation stifling it.

 

Chanyeol didn’t react. Baekhyun relaxed. He didn’t like constantly being on his toes around the other but he supposed after eighteen years of being on his toes around everyone, he was used to it.

 

"It isn’t," he hummed. "There’s the Reaper’s Arch. The worst sinners are turned into Grim Reapers there and serve the Almighty while collecting souls. I’m not sure how long they do that for. Then, the Ill Soul’s Land is where the other bad souls go. Sinners who aren’t bad enough to be turned into monsters but who aren’t good enough to be reborn or sent to good branches. They stay there and reflect, their actions determine where they go afterwards, I guess."

 

It was odd. There were so many branches to this world and Baekhyun had no place in any of them. Here too, Baekhyun didn’t fit.

 

He sighed, brought a hand up to wipe the perspiration gathering on his forehead. He looked ahead. There were only a few meters left before the rocks seemed to fade into the sandy pathway again.

 

He looked at the back of Chanyeol’s head. He was surprised he had given him so much information so easily. Maybe he too thought that getting along would be the best thing to do if they were to spend so much time together.

 

Although, Baekhyun didn’t even know how long this would last. He didn’t even know where they were headed. He didn’t know anything and he relied entirely on Chanyeol’s mood swings to gather information. Even if Chanyeol was the one who had ruined his life just because he needed the help of a human.

 

Suddenly, he wasn’t so glad that they had had a normal conversation anymore. He didn’t know why he was supposed to be happy about that when Chanyeol _should_ treat him nicely after ruining his life.

 

"Are you going to tell me where we’re headed one day?" he asked a while later, voice snappier than intended after long minutes spent silently reprimanding himself for being the only one to make efforts.

 

Chanyeol looked at him after stepping down from the last rock to the normal sandy path again. Baekhyun looked down. Now that he could see the ground, it was rather high, probably less than a meter high but still quite intimidating for someone who wasn’t used to jumping or running or walking on rocks alongside a blue-skinned monster.

 

He could feel Chanyeol’s gaze on him. When he glanced at him, he caught the way one corner of his mouth was crooked into a smile as he seemed to be waiting for Baekhyun to follow along and jump. A challenge. Baekhyun looked away and without hesitating anymore, he jumped down. 

 

Fortunately, he landed on his feet without slipping or falling and humiliating himself. Once he regained his balance, Chanyeol replied.

 

"We’re going to see the Skull Man."

 

Baekhyun promptly burst into laughter.

 

"That sounds like a childish name made up by a kid trying to make a comic book," he couldn’t help but say, laughter still lacing his words together.

 

When he noticed the way Chanyeol was glaring at him, the strings of his laughter were suddenly cut off.

 

"Yeah, sounds like a name you would put in that childish comic book you’ve been writing, right?" Chanyeol said, features sculpted into a façade but voice oozing with bitter mockery.

 

It wasn’t childish. Baekhyun looked away, gritted his teeth together, and pulled the sleeves of his hoodie over his hands. It wasn’t childish. 

 

Comic books were his only escape. Drawing with that one lame pencil that made his sketches messy and his lines too thick and uneven was his only escape. He couldn’t afford better pencils. It was his only escape and Chanyeol was mocking it.

 

He felt the ash of that pencil gathering in his mouth, melting and sealing it together. It was his only escape and Baekhyun couldn’t say it, couldn’t defend it. Because he had learned that it only worsened things, a long time ago.

 

He heard Chanyeol sigh. He didn’t look at him, just followed along when he started walking again, gaze never straying away from the safety of that hole in his sneakers.

 

"We’re going to see him because he holds the key to making me look human again but he won’t talk to anyone without gifts," Chanyeol spoke, the hostility and mockery vanished from his voice but echoing in Baekhyun’s head.

 

Baekhyun didn’t reply. Couldn’t form words around the lump in his throat. Could only hear the echo of Chanyeol mocking the one thing no one had ever mocked in his life. Because no one had ever known. 

 

Despite the lack of reply, Chanyeol continued speaking.

 

"He’s the oldest being in the Cave," he explained, voice soft but not as soft as the discomfort fitting in every nooks and corners of Baekhyun’s body. Still just as chaffing, however.  "He has seen everything and he will know," Chanyeol mumbled. "He witnessed the legend and he will tell me if I bring him what he wants. He’ll give me my appearance back. It’s important. It’s not childish."

 

He wasn’t talking to Baekhyun. He sounded like he was talking to himself.

 

Baekhyun wished that was the case. He didn’t want Chanyeol to talk to him. Now, he wished the entire journey would pass by in silence, without them addressing each other even once. He didn’t want to hear Chanyeol. He sounded like high school. He didn’t want to think about high school.

 

He had used the word _childish._

 

Baekhyun despised himself for wondering if he had offended Chanyeol by laughing at him.

 

He shoved the guilt away and slowed down his pace until Chanyeol was walking in front of him again and all he could see was the back of his head and that bulging traveling bag.

 

Baekhyun wasn’t sure whether comic books were more childish than a monster believing to an old legend claiming that he could look like a human again.

 

He said nothing. He needed that legend to be true if it could make send him back up to a place that he called home without really meaning it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was only what felt like hours later that they stopped to take some rest.

 

They were still in the forest but Baekhyun wasn’t sure whether this was the same one as earlier or not. This place seemed to be entirely made of different forests, trees watching them wherever they went. They had no eyes but at this point, Baekhyun wouldn’t be surprised if a tree suddenly grew eyes and a mouth and stared mocking him for trailing after a blue man.

 

No such thing happened, however. The tree Baekhyun was resting his back against was as comfortable as a tree could be, which meant highly uncomfortable but at least, it supported his poor, aching back. They had taken small rests throughout the day but they had all felt like ten minute long to Baekhyun who wasn’t used to walking so much. They probably had been ten minute long. Chanyeol hadn’t argued with him at all after their _childish_ fight but maybe he had made up for his kindness by tiring Baekhyun out entirely.

 

He was sitting against the tree next to Baekhyun’s now, his eyes closed and his arm draped over the bag sitting next to him on the ground. He didn’t particularly look tired, the serenity on his features enhanced by the pale, sky blue color of his skin. He had noticed that the shade varied a little bit depending on the lights. Baekhyun wondered if it was possible for monsters to feel any kind of physical exhaustion if they had no beating heart. Probably not. Maybe he should ask Chanyeol to adjust to his own beating and lively heart.

 

He didn’t. Instead, he looked away from him and around instead. This forest was dense, trees were everything and Baekhyun had tripped on bulging roots more than once as they walked through it. Chanyeol had only snickered once at him and Baekhyun had returned it when he had also tripped. It had made Baekhyun feel victorious and Chanyeol a bit realer.

 

He looked up to the sky, adjusted the bag besides him so it wouldn’t dig into his thigh. It was still the same dark grey color with a few sickly splurges of yellow here and there. The lampposts planted between the trees were still a harsh, ghostly hue. Baekhyun didn’t question why lampposts seemed to fit in this forest as much as trees did. He wondered what time it was. By the way his stomach felt like it was eating itself up, he’d say dinner time. He hadn’t eaten anything all day, not since the small sandwich Jongdae had showed into his mouth this morning as they had left in a haste and Chanyeol kept grumbling for him to be quicker.

 

He kind of missed Jongdae. He was good company. Why couldn’t it have been Jongdae who dragged him under his bed and wanted to use his humanity for whatever reason? Because Jongdae was a nice person, he thought. As nice as a monster could be.

 

When his stomach betrayed him by wailing loudly, Baekhyun forced himself to look at Chanyeol again. He had a smile on now, the arch of his lips disturbing the calm hues of his features with a drop of what Baekhyun supposed was amusement. He had heard. Baekhyun pressed a hand against his stomach, willing it to be silent. He sunk his teeth into his lower lip as he observed Chanyeol’s relaxed expression.

 

They hadn’t talked at all through the whole day. Baekhyun had had enough information to last him a while and he was unwilling to risk giving Chanyeol the occasion to ruin his day more than he already had. He still didn’t want to communicate with him. But he had no choice. The food was in Chanyeol’s bag.

 

His stomach grumbled again, even louder, and Baekhyun saw the twitch on the corners of Chanyeol’s lips.

 

"I’m hungry," he announced before the other could even have the occasion to possibly muster a mocking remark. "We haven’t eaten all day."

 

Chanyeol opened one eye. For a second, it almost felt like watching the sunrise, a tint of red slowly opening up and spreading on a vast of blue. Then, Baekhyun remembered that the sky was never light blue at the first peak of the morning and that Chanyeol’s single open eye was more akin to a sharp laser than anything else. 

 

He closed his eye again, seemingly dismissing Baekhyun. Irritation scratched against Baekhyun’s tongue but before he could let it out, Chanyeol spoke again.

 

"I carry the food, I decide when to give it to you."

 

And it was odd. Baekhyun would’ve expected those words to carry a heartless or haughty tone but it wasn’t the case. The amused smile was still on Chanyeol’s face, seeping into his voice. Baekhyun licked his lips. They were dry. As dry as his mind seemed to be. He couldn’t come up with a fitting reply, not to that tone. He hadn’t heard it since their first day together.

 

"I’ll carry the food starting from now on then," he eventually settled on saying, tone carefully bare of emotions. Or at least that was how it should’ve been. Instead, Baekhyun heard the slight hesitation in his own voice.

 

Before he could hit his own head or pinch himself or something equally punishing, Chanyeol opened his two eyes and turned his head to look at him. His silver hair glinted against the dark grey of the tree’s bark. His red eyes were even brighter. Baekhyun had never been able to make the difference between playfulness and mockery but he wouldn’t take the risk of thinking Chanyeol nicer than he was.

 

"You’re a weakling," Chanyeol said, gaze studying Baekhyun’s body, running through his sprawled legs then up and back to his face again. He was probably right but Baekhyun still frowned, offended. "And you’d probably run away with the food, thinking you can survive on your own."

 

Baekhyun snorted. "I know I can’t survive here on my own. I’m not stupid," he mumbled, pulling his legs up and against his chest, his arms wrapping around them like a worn out, loose bow. He was tired. And hungry.

 

"If you survived on your own in another world full of different monsters for eighteen years, you can survive here too," Chanyeol said after long enough that Baekhyun thought the conversation was dropped off already. When he looked at him, his gaze met the frown on Chanyeol’s face.

 

He couldn’t figure out what Chanyeol was trying to say. Was he, in a way, encouraging Baekhyun? Or was he tempting him again? Mocking him again? Baekhyun didn’t know. He really didn’t know, all he knew was that he was hungry and already so tired. He shook his head. He was too tired to try and read the other. He was still upset about their argument from earlier too but Baekhyun never held grudges and he never learned.

 

"I wouldn’t really call it surviving," he mumbled, fingers playing with one stray string on the seam of his jeans. "I never really made things easier for myself either."

 

It was a weird feeling. Saying those words out loud and knowing that another pair of ears besides his own would hear them. He pulled at the short string until it refused to follow the movement and stretch out. His fingers slipped off it and Baekhyun held onto it, pulling again. He repeated the action a few times. 

 

He wasn’t even sure why he was speaking to Chanyeol now. He shouldn’t. He probably shouldn’t. But Baekhyun never talked to anyone and Chanyeol had been fun to be around that first day, up until they were in his apartment and his toothy smile had locked Baekhyun in a world he didn’t belong to. He had seemed like a friend until then. Baekhyun had never had a friend before. Not a real one. Chanyeol had felt like he could be one.

 

But he wasn’t. Maybe that was why he didn’t say anything else.

 

Baekhyun should’ve kept his mouth shut. He didn’t want to look more miserable than he already appeared to Chanyeol’s eyes. He really was bad at taking care of his pride. He really was bad at a lot of things. But he was good at ignoring and keeping it in. He ignored Chanyeol when he heard rustling and the characteristic sound of something unzipping, still pulling on a short string that refused to grow and adapt to Baekhyun’s wants.

 

Suddenly, he couldn’t see the tormented string anymore when something else obscured his view of it and blocked it out. It was a triangular shape wrapped in tinfoil, the silver gleam contrasting with the sharp black of claws. He followed them, followed the blue fingers and the black sleeve of a hoodie and then met Chanyeol’s eyes.

 

"A sandwich," Chanyeol said as if it wasn’t obvious, nodding towards it as he shook it a bit under Baekhyun’s nose to urge him to take it.

 

Hesitantly, Baekhyun grabbed it. He made sure not to touch Chanyeol’s claws. They were sharp. Chanyeol could probably slash his skin up and down if he so desired. But he didn’t do anything of the sort, instead he leaned back against his tree once Baekhyun had the sandwich and closed his eyes again.

 

For a short moment, Baekhyun observed the sandwich. Then, he slowly unwrapped the tinfoil, it tore under his touch and revealed the appetizing color of tuna stuck between two slices of bread. He didn’t know why he felt surprised at the sight. He didn’t know what he had been expecting. His stomach gurgled again in happiness when the scent of mayonnaise and tuna tickled his nose and with no more trace of hesitation, he brought the sandwich up to his mouth and took a big bite, shoulders slackening at the taste. It was familiar. Baekhyun often ate tuna sandwiches for dinner, back at home. He took a deep breath in and another big bite.

 

He should thank Chanyeol for giving him the sandwich. He wanted to, not because it was an act of kindness from the other, he was supposed to give food to Baekhyun after all. Just because it was the first time in forever that someone actually handed food to him. He wanted to thank him but it would be awkward to do it after such a long moment of silence. He had lost the opportunity. He gulped down another mouthful of homey taste.

 

It felt awkward to be eating alone. He had half the mind to ask Chanyeol why he didn’t eat along but he seemed to be resting, his eyes closed again. Moreover, he already knew that monsters didn’t need to eat. It might be offensive to ask and Chanyeol had only handed him a sandwich but this felt like progress. Baekhyun didn’t want to ruin it.

 

It was only halfway into the sandwich that Baekhyun realized something and that thought, he couldn’t hold it in.

 

"Wait," he said, word muffled around a mouthful of tuna and bread but loud enough for Chanyeol to open his eyes and look at him. "You know that I’m eighteen and that I draw a comics book. How can you know all that? I’ve never told you."

 

For a second, Chanyeol simply looked at him. Then, he sat up a bit, leaned closer to Baekhyun while widening his eyes and wiggling his fingers in the air.

 

"Because I’m the monster under your bed," he said, voice dropped to a threatening snarl that went along with his creepy expression. His sharp teeth glinted a little.

 

Baekhyun snorted. Not mockingly or haughtily. His mouth had just been full and prevented him from laughing at the ridiculous act Chanyeol was putting on.

 

"You don't look scary," he said, smiling in amusement when Chanyeol’s fingers stopped wiggling and he just held his hands in the air instead. "You just look like someone dipped in blue paint _trying_ to look scary on Halloween."

 

He wasn’t sure where he got the confidence to be teasing from but Chanyeol really did not look scary. Moreover, if Chanyeol was allowing himself to mock and tease Baekhyun —albeit much more meanly most of the time— then Baekhyun could too.

 

And judging by the frown and the offended purse of Chanyeol’s lips, he had succeeded. At being teasing. Because the line of his lips was a bit crooked, like it always was when Chanyeol was amused.

 

"You shouldn’t be so rude to someone who knows you watch tentacle porn," Chanyeol said as he finally let his hands drop to his lap again.

 

Baekhyun _almost_ dropped his sandwich.

 

"That was _once_ ," he argued, voice taking on an ugly screech that he couldn’t even pay attention to the the situation was so dire. "I was just trying to watch an anime and downloaded weird hentai porn into my old computer instead! It started on its own and I turned it off almost immediately!"

 

Chanyeol crossed his arms against his chest and stretched his long legs in front of him. He crossed his feet at the ankles, their tips grazing the tree across from where he sat. The quirk of his eyebrow was smug and this wasn’t exactly mocking, this wasn’t exactly mean, but Baekhyun could feel himself panicking in an odd, unfamiliar way. It didn’t make him want to cry, it didn’t make him want to hit someone either.

 

This was embarrassing, very embarrassing. But it was almost nice to feel embarrassed with the knowledge that there was no real bad intention coming from the person embarrassing him. Although, he wasn’t even sure why he knew for sure that this was mere teasing rather than mockery.

 

"Others won’t know that," Chanyeol said, singsonging obnoxiously as he tilted his head up, chin held high by victory. Then, he leaned closer to Baekhyun again, just a little bit, lowering his voice. "I’m sure there’s probably one or two tentacle man in the Cave."

 

Driven by a sudden urge, Baekhyun bunched up the tinfoil that had been protecting his sandwich into a small but hard ball and threw it at Chanyeol’s face. It bumped against his nose and Chanyeol looked at him, eyes widened by the same surprise that seemingly had prevented him from avoiding the ball.

 

Baekhyun froze. The remnants of mayonnaise now felt bitter in his mouth. He didn’t know why he had done that. He didn’t know why he had thought it was a good idea to do that. He didn’t know why he had thought Chanyeol wouldn’t mind him just throwing a tinfoil ball at his face. He should apologize. He should ask for forgiveness to make sure it wouldn’t escalate into something worse. For his own good. He should apologize but he couldn’t. He couldn’t even move a single finger, his lips were stuck together, sewn together by the sharp, unending fear of saying something that would worsen his case.

 

But Chanyeol didn’t say anything, didn’t do anything, didn’t throw the ball back at his face or grab his collar and slam him against a tree and ask him not to ever ever look into his eyes because he was _stupid and stupid people should be ashamed of themselves and always look down._

 

Instead, he narrowed his eyes at Baekhyun, red gleaming at him with jest as he grabbed the ball that had dropped on his lap. He threw it into the air once and caught it in his palm again. 

 

"I was right. You’re kinda weak," was all he said, still with that teasing but not mocking tone that messed with Baekhyun’s mind. It was unfamiliar.

 

The relief that slackened his shoulders wasn’t unfamiliar. Chanyeol kept his eyes on the ball as he bounced it up into the air and back down into his palm over and over again. Baekhyun shoved the last of his sandwich into his mouth, hoping that the sound of his teeth crushing bread would drown out the panicked course of his heart in his chest.

 

It was okay. Nothing had happened. Baekhyun hadn’t worsened it. It was okay.

 

It was only when he had gulped down the last crumbles of his sandwich that Baekhyun mustered the courage to speak out again.

 

"You’re really good at changing the subject," he noted. Chanyeol threw the ball into the air and caught it once before Baekhyun continued speaking, his gaze carefully studying the other. "How long have you been watching me?"

 

"A year," Chanyeol easily replied. 

 

He wasn’t throwing the ball up anymore, simply holding it in his hand, gaze still focused on it. Baekhyun was surprised that he replied so easily, without any fuss.

 

What surprised him even more was how long Chanyeol had actually been in his bedroom with him.

 

"I’ve never noticed," he mumbled, folding his legs against his chest again and holding onto them, trying to squeeze the discomfort out of his body.

 

It shouldn’t be surprising. Monsters _were_ known to lurk under beds all night long to scare their owner. Everyone knew that. But no one ever thought that it was real.

 

"I never really left my spot under your bed," Chanyeol shrugged, planting a claw against the tinfoil and digging a hole into it. His claws were sharp. They could cut. "Or well. You never saw me when I actually did."

 

"How? Why?" Baekhyun questioned.

 

If Chanyeol knew random things about him, then it meant he knew everything else. Maybe he had witnessed all those times Baekhyun’s father barged into his room, drunk and angry and looking for something to vent everything out on. He pressed his thighs tighter against his chest.

 

Chanyeol met his gaze. Baekhyun looked down at the sharp teeth that dug into his lower lip. He couldn’t look into his eyes. Not now. Those eyes might have seen Baekhyun at his worst. He didn’t like it.

 

"Contrary to popular belief, monsters are nothing but shadows. If I get out of under your bed, you would see nothing but a shadow because that’s what I am. Nothing but a faceless dark shape," he replied as his gaze fell back down to the tinfoil ball. He had dug a few holes into it now and he seemed completely focused on it, enough for his voice to sound aloof.

 

But what he was saying was horrifying. Baekhyun couldn’t imagine ever having access to the human world but appearing as nothing but a shadow running along the walls and hiding in corners. It would suffocate him, frustrate him, and he would, for sure not be able to talk about it so casually. He glanced down at Chanyeol’s claws as they scratched against the tinfoil. He wondered if Chanyeol felt the same way but was just trying to distract himself. Or if he had gotten so used to it that it was just normal to him. Maybe that was sadder.

 

"But I saw your hand when you grabbed me," Baekhyun mumbled, a shiver raking through his body in a jolt at the memory of blue fingers and black claws circling his ankle, digging into his skin and dragging him down under his bed.

 

"That’s because I was touching you. Only contact with humans make us visible."

 

Chanyeol let out a soft sigh. The scales scattered on his cheeks glinted like glassy freckles. Baekhyun hummed.

 

"You’ve been watching me for a while," he mumbled, more to himself than to the monster.

 

It felt weird, still made his stomach twist to know that someone had always been watching him in his room. Granted, Chanyeol might have rarely gotten out of his hidden spot under his bed and that might have limited his view, but the realization still prickled Baekhyun’s nape like crumbles of glass, not cutting yet but not unnoticeable either.

 

"I didn’t see anything too intimate," Chanyeol suddenly said, calling for Baekhyun’s attention again. He raised his gaze from the now crooked string on the seam of his jeans and looked at the monster. He was still playing with the tinfoil. "I wasn’t there to watch you like some kind of pervert. I didn’t. I just wanted some form of contact with the human world." He looked at Baekhyun, one corner of his lips tugged up to reveal sharp teeth that glinted like a stray ray of sunlight, mocking Baekhyun who wouldn’t see the sun in a long, long time. "I had no interest in seeing your small, unattractive young adult body. If that’s what you’re worried about."

 

That was what Baekhyun _was_ worried about and yet, hearing it in this way was far from being pleasant.

 

"I wouldn’t want your blue dick either," he retorted, more of a grumble under his breath than anything else.

 

The effect was immediate. Chanyeol’s red gaze snapped to him and his eyebrows furrowed, lips twisting into a snarl. 

 

It was too easy to fight back when you knew the opponent’s weakness. Baekhyun had heard that in way too many gaming videos.

 

"What did you just say?" Chanyeol groaned and again, Baekhyun wasn’t sure whether he was entirely angry or if he did feel entertained by their useless bickering. He always had a faint smile on. It was difficult to figure out what emotion tugged the corners of his lips up.

 

"I take it back," Baekhyun said, albeit still looking at the other defiantly. " _You’re_ a blue dick in your entirety."

 

Chanyeol looked at him for a short moment during which Baekhyun felt his heart warming up for a race, ready to bolt against his chest were Chanyeol to actually take offense at his words. That had been the aim and yet, Baekhyun wouldn’t deny that he felt a little intimidated by Chanyeol still. He could probably eat him if he wanted to. Baekhyun was okay with being dragged into a world of monster but he had not signed up for getting eaten by one of them.

 

However, Chanyeol did nothing. He didn’t retort with a hurtful remark or eat Baekhyun alive. He simply snorted. Baekhyun couldn’t figure out why. He couldn’t tell if it was a deprecating sound or just the stuffed beginning of a repressed laugh.

 

Either way, he watched in relief as Chanyeol shook his head and looked away. He unzipped his travel bag again and shoved the tinfoil ball inside. Baekhyun was surprised. He had expected him to just throw it somewhere on the ground, amidst the trees. He wondered if pollution could affect this world. It would be kind of hilarious if even monsters had to recycle their garbage.

 

This hadn’t been a disaster. Chanyeol seemed to be unable to hold a conversation without offending his counterpart at some point but they had had worse conversations. This had been okay. 

 

Baekhyun’s stomach was even filled now. He felt better, his legs didn’t hurt anymore although he had a feeling the pain would turn permanent if they walked a little more.

 

Chanyeol zipped his bag up again and Baekhyun decided that it might not be a bad idea to spill what had been bothering his mind until now.

 

"What’s going on between you and the Queen?"

 

The effect of his words was immediate again but this time, it wasn’t wanted.

 

Any trace of smile or amusement was wiped off Chanyeol’s face and his gaze cut through Baekhyun’s mind as soon as it locked with his. 

 

"Just because I talked to you out of boredom doesn’t mean I’m gonna be the friend you never had."

 

Baekhyun felt the hope he had slowly built crumbling down to ruins. It shattered into heavy boulders that crashed against every corner of his body, crushing his soul and plastering it into pain. 

 

Stupid. He was stupid.

 

"We rested enough," Chanyeol said as he stood up and lifted the bag up into his shoulders again. He wasn’t looking at Baekhyun anymore. He barely waited for him to stand up before he started walking deeper into the forest.

 

Stupid.

 

Baekhyun never learned to step away. He stood right under the boulders as they plummeted down towards him, looking up, but never protecting himself against the threat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Their entire journey had been spent alone. 

 

Baekhyun had no one but Chanyeol to accompany him throughout the whole day and while it was much better than being alone, he wasn't sure Chanyeol's presence was his preferred one. Actually, he was sure it wasn't. They hadn't talked at all since their last 'argument' again and Baekhyun had no problem with staying silent and on his own for long amounts of time but this was unnerving.

 

Therefore, he couldn't help but feel incredibly relieved when the first sound that he had heard a while ago wasn't the wind or his own footsteps crunching but something that sounded _alive._ As alive as anything in this world could be, at least.

 

They were still in the forest, the same one with dark grey trees and crooked branches but this time, they weren't alone. The first sign of another presence was the faint, ugly chirp that Baekhyun had no problem associating to a bird. He hadn't asked Chanyeol but it wasn't difficult to recognize a bird, no matter how distorted their croaking was. 

 

That wasn't the only animal they had encountered, Baekhyun had seen forms moving quickly amongst bushes and shadows whizzing behind trees. Whatever he had seen, he couldn't recognize. Not only were the sounds distorted, as if pronounced through a saturated radio line, but the appearance of the few animals he had caught glimpse of were naught but monstrous. It shouldn't be surprising. Baekhyun wasn't sure why he had expected all these disturbing noises to come out of any normal-looking creature.

 

What surprised him, however, was that whatever they had encountered, it hadn't attacked them. Baekhyun had jolted and startled quite a few times at the louder distorted howls and at the multiple beady eyes staring at him from the barely recognizable face of a dear, but nothing had attacked them. The only thing hurting his pride was the occasional snickers that Chanyeol accompanied his scared jumps with. He hated those.

 

However, Baekhyun was so entranced and even amazed by whatever animal he saw that he couldn't even bring himself to care about it. There were bunnies whose ears were planted on their square butts and whose head was crowned with puffy tails instead, as if whoever had created it had messed up the order. He had seen a horse with the head of a fish and scales of an ugly, rotten yellow color. An oversized cat had even grazed his legs. Baekhyun had held his breath as it licked a stripe up his clothed calf with its forked teeth and rubbed his basketball-sized head against his workout sneakers.

 

The worst had been the unending snake that had literally crossed their path. Its skin was decorated with all kinds of different animal furs, the pattern of a tigger, the scaled of what Baekhyun supposed was a fish, and in a few spots, weird branch-like claws that had sent shivers down Baekhyun's spine. Chanyeol had had to wait and urge him to jump over the snake so they could continue their journey. It was just a stretch of its body that probably lasted for meters, maybe even crossed the entirety of the forest. Baekhyun could not see the head nor the end of its tail and yet, it had been one of the most terrifying sights ever. He had forced himself to jump and had tripped when landing back on his feet. Chanyeol had snorted again. 

 

He had no idea what animals were doing here. Chanyeol hadn't said anything and Baekhyun was still irritated by the way he couldn't seem to hold a nice conversation with him, but this was amazing. This almost felt like he was locked in a fairytale, or one of those horror-themed video games Baekhyun had always wished he could buy. He didn't really own any video games. He couldn't, not when he had no console to play them on. He always resorted to watching gaming videos to try and tame the envious claws planting into his chest but this, this was better than gaming videos. This felt like he was in a video game.

 

And he couldn't help but feel curious about this dark and complex word. He had no means to understand it on his own, the only way would be to ask questions but there was no one to answer them. Or rather, there was no one but _Chanyeol_ to answer them.

 

Baekhyun sacrificed his pride for the sake of his education. As always.

 

"How come there are animals here?" he ended up asking when he couldn't hold his curiosity in anymore.

 

He half expected Chanyeol to ignore him but he seemed to have forgotten about Baekhyun's question about the Queen earlier and wasn't upset anymore. Baekhyun had been asking questions all day. He had asked today alone the same amount of questions that he had voiced out throughout his whole life. Usually, he had no answer. This was novel.

 

"I guess the Almighty has a thing for animals and fertility and all that shit," Chanyeol snorted and for once, Baekhyun was glad that it wasn't directed at him. Chanyeol seemed to hate God more than he hated Baekhyun. That was a little reassuring. "All the animals in the human world are almost perfect, aren't they?"

 

"They're... not monstrous, at least," Baekhyun said with a bit of hesitancy. He had a feeling Chanyeol could suddenly start insulting him at any given moment. It was a feeling he was used to but somehow, it felt worse than ever now.

 

"I guess he dumps all his failed experiments here and only gives the good stuff to the Above," Chanyeol said absentmindedly as he stopped walking, hoisted the strap of his back on his shoulder and looked around.

 

They had been walking for a while now. Baekhyun heard the neighing of a horse far away. He was now pretty sure it probably wasn't coming from a horse. A weird creature passed by them, crawling on the ground like a snake except it wasn't one. It had weird antennas, almost like hardened tinfoil strings planted on a head that was much, much smaller than its body. With a closer look, Baekhyun realized it was similar to the head of a fly stuck on the legless body of a bug.

 

His stomach churned.

 

"That's kinda cruel, why doesn't he just kill them if they're failed experiments?" he couldn't help but question.

 

Chanyeol didn't look at him for a while, continuing to trail his gaze around as if he was seeking for something in particular. Baekhyun slid a thumb under one strap of his bag. It dug painfully into his shoulders and the bag was heavy, he could feel discomfort slowly blending into pain on his lower back.

 

"I guess killing is not his thing," Chanyeol muttered before finally looking at him. "We're not too far off."

 

"What are we looking for?" Baekhyun asked and it was crazy how he had asked a similar question so many times today but still had no concrete idea about what they were trying to find.

 

"We need the bones of one of the birds here," Chanyeol answered as he resumed walking.

 

Baekhyun felt like crying a little bit. Finally, a real, concrete, simple answer. Even if it was a disturbing one. Baekhyun did his best not to be thrown off and followed Chanyeol, walking besides him. 

 

Of course, it would've been too easy if they were just supposed to rip a plant of its roots and leave. Even in video games, all quests were complicated and every object sought was weird.

 

"Then that's not too complicated," Baekhyun ventured. "These animals probably kill each other, right? That's how survival works, even in the Afterlife."

 

"Well, yeah but it's kinda different from the Above," Chanyeol started, head tilted up. Baekhyun followed his gaze. These trees were tall but not abnormally so, they were as tall as any tree in the human world. 

 

"How so?" he asked as he continued looking up. Chanyeol was probably looking for something like a nest. 

 

A few of the trees were bare but a lot of them were fully garnished in black, gooey leaves too. Baekhyun wasn't sure how leaves could be gooey but he was starting not to question this world anymore.

 

"These particular birds aren't too hostile. They don't really fight with other animals," Chanyeol explained and Baekhyun scrunched his nose as goo dripped in front of him from a tree. Now that he could take a closer look, it wasn’t really black but rather, a dark, sick green. A leaf. "When these birds reproduce, it's usually in a batch of four. They fight as soon as they're old enough to stand on their feet and only one of them survives."

 

Baekhyun looked at him, speechless for a second.

 

"But they're birds," he said before he could stop himself.

 

Chanyeol gave him an amused look. "They're monsters," he said and they resumed walking. "They also feed on the bones of the dead ones."

 

This time, Baekhyun didn't let his surprise transpire. 

 

"That means the bones are precious. They're probably hyper protective. It's their meal," he mused out loud.

 

Chanyeol looked at him with a sharp-toothed smile. "Looks like you're smarter than you think you are."

 

Baekhyun looked down at his feet, letting his hair curtain and hide his frown.

 

Was it that obvious that he had a tendency to think himself as the most stupid human being on earth?

 

He didn't voice that question out. 

 

It didn't take Chanyeol long to locate a nest and soon, they stood in front of one of the tallest trees of the forest, looking up into a dripping cloud of leaves partially concealing a huge nest from view. It was tucked on one of the lower branches of the trees and there was no movement but a faint wheezing could be heard, Baekhyun couldn’t tell whether that was the wind, a different animal, or one of the birds sleeping in the nest.

 

"It's high," Baekhyun commented after a long moment of silence that they both had spent looking up at the nest. It was made out of branches, dry plants, and dripped with the same goo as the leaves surrounding it.

 

"It is," Chanyeol said before finally looking at him. "But not too high. You can easily climb and get a bone from there."

 

Baekhyun snapped his head towards him so hard he felt something in his neck cracking faintly.

 

" _I_ am going to climb and get the bone?!"

 

Chanyeol quirked an eyebrow. "You're smaller so it'll be easier for you to climb and you're also more quiet than I am so in case there's something sleeping there, you'll get noticed later than I would."

 

Baekhyun noticed how Chanyeol talked as if he _would_ get noticed. 

 

He looked at him, at the serious fiery glints in his eyes. He was right. Baekhyun had a hard time imagining him climbing up this tree. It was better for him to be the one doing. Chanyeol was right. Baekhyun looked up at the nest again. It was high. Probably around four meters above the ground. That was high. Baekhyun hadn't climbed a tree since his childhood.

 

He took a deep breath in, the air shivering as it engulfed into his mouth. 

 

"Give me your bag," Chanyeol said and that was the cue for Baekhyun to realize that he needed to climb up this tree and possibly encounter a monstrous bird while trying to steal its meal. 

 

He had to do this. So that Chanyeol would send him back to the Above.

 

He took another deep breath in, puffing his chest with air and breathing out half of his fear afterwards. If he had survived in a world full of human monsters for eighteen years, he would survive a weird bird who ate the bones of its siblings. 

 

He slid the heavy bag off his shoulders, giving it to Chanyeol who hoisted it on one shoulder. He was looking at Baekhyun with an expectant look and it was nerve wrecking but he was glad that at least, he wasn’t urging him with words. Baekhyun already felt his legs wobbling a little, he didn’t need anyone pressuring him, he was doing a good job of that on his own.

 

"If you fall, I’ll catch you," Chanyeol suddenly said and when Baekhyun ripped his gaze away from the tree and looked at him instead, he had that smug expression on. The one that was mixed in with amusement, the one that usually made Baekhyun feel humiliated and insulted.

 

It wasn’t the case now. Baekhyun snorted. He didn’t want to believe him but Chanyeol needed him so at least, that might push him to make sure Baekhyun wouldn’t die here and now.

 

With a last deep breath and a reassuring nod to himself, Baekhyun stepped closer to the tree. With a bit of hesitance, he pressed a hand against the trunk. The bark didn't feel natural. He wasn't sure what he was expecting but this felt like cardboard, or maybe leather, or maybe an odd, unnatural mix of these two materials together. It was sturdy, at least, and that was mildly reassuring because at least, the tree wouldn't snap in half while he was climbing it up. Probably.

 

There was a branch low enough for him to grab onto but he had to jump a little to do it, causing Chanyeol to snicker again behind him. H was getting used to that sound. He didn't even bother saying anything or even throwing a glare to the monster. Instead, he poured all his attention to how uncomfortable the bark felt under his palm and tightened his hold on the branch. He was on the tip of his toes already so he swung a feet up, pressing the tip against the bark and hoisting himself up with a groan until he could could climb up the trunk. His feet slid a few times but he couldn't help but feel triumph when he managed to sit on the branch he had been holding onto after a while.

 

His arms were already tired. He was already a little breathless and when he glanced down, he couldn't help but think that he was already a bit too high above the ground. He didn't let it deter him, however, gulping the fear down and looking at Chanyeol once. Oddly, he had an encouraging expression on. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking, Baekhyun could associate his expression to his usual blank one. He seemed to have two expressions. Blank and smugly amused. Baekhyun was surprised he wasn't taunting him or urging him to go faster.

 

Once he deemed his few seconds of rest enough, he looked up to the nest and then continued his climbing up the tree. As expected, the trunk was sturdy, nothing snapped under his weight as he slowly but surely climbed up. Nothing but a tiny, rotten, short branch that he had supported his feet on but that gave up as soon as Baekhyun tried dragging himself up. He heard it crash to the ground with a thump and then found himself disappointed that it crashed to the ground and not on _someone's_ head. 

 

His palms were starting to burn a little from how tight he was holding onto the branches but he didn't stop to rest and made sure not to look down either. The faster he'd get that bone, the faster his feet would touch the ground again. He grabbed at a thick branch above and pulled himself up, nudging his foot against a tiny slit in the bark. He looked up. He was close. Only a little more. He could see the oversized nest better but he could also hear the odd whizzing louder too. That meant there was indeed something sleeping up there. Baekhyun licked his lips nervously and continued.

 

At one point, when there was only a single branch separating him from the nest, he felt something landing against his cheek. It was cold, an unpleasant and unexpected sensation that startled him and caused him to lose his footing. A gasp escaped his lips and he tightened his hold on the branch he was gripping. There was nothing supporting his feet for a few seconds that stretched forever, each of them accompanied by a pulse of pain coursing through his whole arms. He swung his feet around, groaned, and finally found some leverage. He didn't know what his feet were pressed against but at least, it was preventing him from falling and made it easier on his arms.

 

With another groan, he put his entire weight on his arms again, effort perspiring on his forehead, and hoisted himself up. He closed his eyes, just to focus harder and after what felt like an eternity, he dragged himself to sit on the branch closest to the nest. As soon as his butt was resting on a worryingly thin branch, Baekhyun let his arms fall down to his lap and pain sliced through the junction between his shoulders and his upper arms. 

 

For a few seconds, he didn't move. He waited for the pain to stop beating through his body as fast as his heart did and gulped down. His mouth felt sandy. He was thirsty. He had managed to climb up the tree. He opened his eyes and looked down. He caught a glimpse of silver and blue and instantly looked at his thighs again. He had climbed up the tree. He hadn't fallen. He had climbed up the tree and done something he thought he wouldn't be able to.

 

Baekhyun wasn't sure why something as simple as climbing up a tree made him feel so proud of himself but it did. That wasn't a feeling he often tasted so he savored every single drop of it before gathering enough courage to look at himself properly. 

 

His palms were a fiery red color, the skin of his knuckles scratched here and there, but there was no blood. Instead, there was that same gooey liquid that was dripping  from the trees around them. He scrunched his nose in disgust. It was all over his clothes too. He brought a hand up to wipe his cheek and unsurprisingly, the cold drop that had landed on his skin earlier was the same dark green color as the trees' leaves.

 

He wiped his hand on his jeans and then looked in front of him. His breathing pattern had returned to normal by then but as soon as his gaze landed on the nest, he found something freezing in his throat and cutting the airway. 

 

There was a bird. That wasn't surprising. What Baekhyun hadn't expected was the size of the bird that was curled on the nest. It was big. It covered almost half of the nest's width and it was much, much bigger than any other bird Baekhyun had seen in the Above. It was the size of the chubby cat that always escaped from their neighbor's house and scratched at their door until his father screamed in irritation and it fled the scene.

 

The bird wasn't as cute as that cat. It was much more terrifying. It didn't really have feathers but fur, or at least, something that looked like fur. It almost looked like someone had wrapped the bird in rug and then had plastered some kind of yellowish glue on it to make sure it wouldn't take it off. It had two heads, small and completely disproportional to the rest of its body. Each of those heads were stabbed in the middle by a beak that looked as sharp as a knife but that was crooked, as if someone had somehow managed to take that knife and bend it a little. There was a third beak that linked those two heads together, that one much larger and less sharp, looking more like a metaled, long plank than anything else.

 

It was sleeping, in an odd position, one leathery, large wing resting under its heads while the other seemed to be wrapped around its body. Baekhyun felt those three different beaks planting somewhere in his chest, hitting and nudging his heart repeatedly. It was cold, cold and hard. Fear. He chanced another glance down, managed to make out Chanyeol's face through the slight haze that seemed to be wrapped around the tree from up here. He was looking at Baekhyun, their eyes met, and finally, Chanyeol urged him for the first time with a movement of his hand.

 

Baekhyun nodded, even if he was sure Chanyeol wasn't conveying anything remotely nice to him  through that gesture. He could do this. He had do to this. He had to.

 

He pressed a hand against his chest, wishing that he could just plant his fingers into his heart and grab that big particle of fear nestled inside to pull it out and throw it away forever. This was their first step, their first destination. Baekhyun was sure he would see much more horrifying things after this. He couldn't allow himself to mess everything up now. It was only the beginning.

 

He looked back to the nest. There was a lump of bones resting right beside the bird's heads. They were all crooked and had weird shapes, the only thing Baekhyun could make out was a crushed skull. His stomach tied into knots that dug into his guts. He had no idea which one he was supposed to take. He looked back down at Chanyeol.

 

He seemed to make out something on Baekhyun's face. His encouraging expression morphed into an exasperated one and his hands swung around in urgent motions.

 

"Just take a bone and quickly get down," he heard him hiss and the sound of his voice was followed by a loud wheeze.

 

Eyes wide enough for it to hurt a bit, Baekhyun snapped his gaze to the bird. A head twitched once. Baekhyun held his breath and froze. He waited a few seconds, gaze never once leaving the monstrous animal. It didn't move again. He threw a glare at Chanyeol. This was his fault. He had been the one to speak loudly. He didn't look apologetic but at least, the pressuring hand gestures had ceased.

 

Baekhyun sunk his teeth into his lower lip and stretched his hand towards the lump of bones. He hesitated. It was too close to the monster. Baekhyun wouldn't touch it but he feared that the noise of bones bumping together might wake it up. He quietly exhaled to calm himself down, trying his hardest to ignore the distress that prickled all along his neck and his shoulder blades. He had to do this.

 

There was one long bone that bulged out of the stack, only its tip was buried under the skull. It would be the easiest one to take. He cut his breath off and reached for it.

 

The bone was cold under his fingertips when he grabbed it and Baekhyun felt nausea punching his stomach at the thought that this was a _bone._ It didn't matter. He focused on slowly dragging it out of the stack, bit by bit, as quietly as possible but as quick as possible too because he was sitting at the very edge of the branch to reach the nest and he wasn't sure he was safe from slipping and crashing on the ground. The bone came out of the stack rather easily, none of the other bones moved and the bird continued wheezing, still asleep.

 

He could do this. He was doing this. He had to do this. There was only the very tip of the bone left to pull out. As carefully as he could, he pulled the last bit of the bone out of the stack, freeing it completely and gripping it tighter in his hand. For a second, he remained there, frozen, wide eyes watching the bird. It didn't move. He was holding the bone. He had pulled it out. Victory sparked through him and he straightened his back again, slowly, quietly pulling away from the stack of bones.

 

Then, he heard something crinkle. 

 

The skull on the stack of bones shivered a little before rolling down with a sharp, loud thud. He froze. The bird twitched. 

 

First, its middle beak opened a hairbreadth before closing with a sharp, metallic sound. Its eyes opened at once, two wide, bulging white beads, and there were no pupils but Baekhyun felt a shiver raking through his body. It was looking at him. He felt frozen in place.

 

It moved, jumped up to its feet at once, its wings spreading on either side of its body. Baekhyun should leave. He should get down. He should jump. He should do something. But he felt stuck. He couldn't move a single finger. He could barely even part his lips enough to suck air in. The bird looked at him with all four of its eyes and suddenly, its three beaks opened, a strident croak piercing the air. It was more of a screech, akin to the unpleasant, distressed sound of nails scratching against a metal board.

 

That was enough for Baekhyun's body to suddenly jumpstart. Still gripping onto the bone firmly, he swung his feet down to the branch under him and jumped. He slid, catching himself on the branch he had been sitting on a second earlier. The bark was sharp as it painfully dug into his palm. He looked up, eyes meeting four white beads before they closed as the bird threw its two heads back and screeched again, this time louder, flapping its wings but thankfully not soaring or jumping down to Baekhyun's face.

 

It was still as horrifying, however, because it suddenly moved, stepping to the edge of the nest, closer to Baekhyun. He was frozen in place again. He was frozen even if he could feel every single one of his limbs trembling.

 

"Just jump!" he heard, Chanyeol's voice sounding farther than it actually was. The bird screeched again, flapping its wings faster, and again, and again. It jumped on the branch Baekhyun was holding onto. "Baekhyun!"

 

He looked down at once, gaze meeting Chanyeol's. He had his arms stretched out. He was talking, Baekhyun could make out the movement of his lips as they formed words. He couldn't hear him. He closed his eyes and jumped, heart stopping as if he had forgotten it in the bird's nest, buried under a stack of deformed bones.

 

He felt his body crashing against something, strong arms wrapping around him, and then he was falling further down. Pain shot up through his arm and he opened his eyes. He was on top of Chanyeol, he had caught him but they had both staggered back and were laying on the ground. Baekhyun's gaze met a crimson one. The bird screeched again, this time stronger. Baekhyun wasn't holding onto the bone anymore, his hands were empty. The bird screeched again and it echoed. Louder, stronger. An answer. A second screech, closer.

 

The flap of wings preceded the sudden appearance of an exact copy of the bird on the nest. This one was bigger, much, much bigger, and it was flying only a few trees away from them. It was heading towards them, all leather wings and metallic beaks and rusty croaks.

 

Baekhyun felt a push and suddenly, he was stumbling away from Chanyeol. He looked at him. His heart was beating faster than the sinister flap of wings. Chanyeol was on his feet, hoisting their two bags up on his shoulders before bending to grab the bone laying next to Baekhyun.

 

Their eyes met for a fleeting moment before Chanyeol turned around and bolted.

 

Baekhyun was still frozen on the ground when the huge bird's wings cut off a branch from a tree nearby. Much too close. It rolled on the ground and bumped against the tree Baekhyun had been climbing. A gooey drop of green crashed on it.

 

Adrenaline kicked him up with a sharp hit and Baekhyun cursed loudly before scrambling up to his feet and running after Chanyeol.


	6. Chapter Five

With a last look behind him, Baekhyun crumbled down to the ground. His hands caught most of his bodyweight, tiny branches and stones stabbing into his palms as his knees dug onto the black grass.

 

Chest heaving, he threw his head back and let the rest of his body follow the movement, turning to sit properly and pressing his hands a bit behind him to support himself. His knees hurt, his legs felt wobbly even if they were stretched out in front of him. His chest felt like it was on the brink of bursting out and shrinking into itself simultaneously, with each breath Baekhyun heaved for. They’d been running for too long.

 

He opened his eyes, blinking a few times when the world seemed darker than it usually was. It cleared up soon and Baekhyun looked to his left, where they had emerged out of the forest and into this plain valley. The bird wasn’t there anymore. Relief tugged his eyelids down again and he took a deep breath in, holding it in for a second before letting it all out and willing himself to calm down. He was okay. They’d lost the monster. He was okay.

 

When he opened his eyes again, his gaze fell on Chanyeol. He was a few steps away from Baekhyun, _standing,_ one of his hands clutching onto the straps of the two bags hanging from his shoulder and the other holding onto his own waist. He was looking down, silver strands concealing his gaze, lips parted. He wasn’t nearly as breathless as Baekhyun was. Somehow, that only pissed Baekhyun off further.

 

He scrambled up to his feet again and, taken by a sudden surge of fury, he strode to the monster, pushing on his shoulders with one harsh strike. Chanyeol barely stumbled back and the rage Baekhyun felt was as crimson as the gaze he met.

 

"Why the fuck did you leave me there to run on your own?!" he accused Chanyeol, voice probably louder than necessary when they stood next to a forest scrambling with oversized, monstrous birds.

 

"You didn’t die, did you?" was the answer Chanyeol gave him with such a casual lilt to his voice that Baekhyun felt himself losing his mind just a little bit.

 

"But I could’ve!" he argued, exasperation dragging the volume of his voice higher. 

 

Baekhyun had been frozen for a few seconds back there, as the bird kept flying towards him, while Chanyeol was already a good distance away. He had been stuck in place by his own fear and he could’ve not recovered fast enough to run away. Chanyeol had dumped him there after grabbing the bone Baekhyun had basically risked _his_ life for.

 

Chanyeol sighed and took a step back. Baekhyun then realized that he had been spitting accusations right into the other’s face, standing too close. He didn’t mind. He didn’t know where he got this sudden courage from but he needed to let Chanyeol know that he wasn’t pleased.

 

"You managed to do it on your own. You didn’t need me to be there and hold your hand, did you?" He slid the smaller bag down his shoulder and held it out to Baekhyun who grabbed it with a harsh movement, ripping it off the other’s hand. "I knew you’d run away in time."

 

"You can’t know that, Chanyeol," Baekhyun muttered through gritted teeth as he hoisted the back up his shoulders. He hated this. How casual Chanyeol was about this when Baekhyun could’ve died there.

 

Chanyeol crossed his arms against his chest and looked down at Baekhyun. It wasn’t smugness on his face, it wasn’t haughtiness either. Baekhyun couldn’t read him, could never read him and that was something usual, Baekhyun had never been good at figuring out people’s thoughts by their expression. For the first time ever, this was infuriating.

 

"Yes, I do know that, Baekhyun," he replied. The way he put emphasis on his name, as if he was mocking him, made Baekhyun bite the inside of his cheek. Or not mocking him. He didn’t know. He hated it.

 

He mimicked Chanyeol’s stance, crossing his arms against his chest and looking up at him with a quirked eyebrow. Just because he too could mock the other. Just because he didn’t like how he always let Chanyeol get away with everything when he probably should thank Baekhyun eternally for even accepting to go on this journey with him.

 

Then, Baekhyun remembered he didn’t have a say in that either and it made his next words come out harsher than intended.

 

"You think you know everything?"

 

Chanyeol assessed him, one corner of his lips tugged up into that smug, crooked smile that Baekhyun wished he could rip out of his face.

 

"Yes, I’m pretty smart," he replied with no hesitation and Baekhyun had never felt the urge to hit someone so much.

 

But he’d probably lose in a fight against Chanyeol so he settled on the next best thing.

 

"If you were as smart as you think you are, maybe you wouldn’t have ended up as a blue monster in Hell."

 

Baekhyun rarely felt satisfaction in his life but as he watched Chanyeol’s features fall for a second before hardening again, it was the most delightful aroma he had ever tasted. Seeing Chanyeol’s jaw tensing and clenching as he glared at Baekhyun felt as good as ripping his smile off would.

 

"Let’s just continue," he muttered, voice lower and darker than before as he turned away from Baekhyun and promptly walked off.

 

Baekhyun had no problem following him this time.

 

He remained a few steps behind Chanyeol and kept his eyes on him, satisfaction still singing sweetly into his ears and masking the odd and eery sounds still emanating from the forest behind them.

 

Their journey resumed in silence again. It took a short while for the triumph Baekhyun felt to melt down to guilt and hesitation. He had used Chanyeol’s weakness against him again. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like hurting, or at the very least upsetting Chanyeol. He knew how it felt.

 

However, he didn’t take it back. He ignored the urge to apologize. Chanyeol deserved it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No one broke the silence until the wind started howling and they decided to rest for the night.

 

They were still in that open valley, nothing but grass surrounding them, sometimes broken and saturated by long streaks of sandy or stone paths.

 

Baekhyun wasn’t sure it was a good idea to sleep in an open place with nothing to conceal them but he didn’t say anything. There was no possibility of him knowing this world’s functioning better than Chanyeol, anyway. If Chanyeol deemed it safe for them, then Baekhyun supposed it was. Even if he wasn’t sure he could completely trust Chanyeol after what he had pulled in the forest.

 

"Do you want me to light a fire? It might be a bit too cold for a human body through the night."

 

Baekhyun was surprised that Chanyeol was the first one to speak. He looked up at the monster from where he was sitting on the ground, bag resting beside him. Chanyeol was rummaging in his own bag, not even paying attention to Baekhyun. He took out a worn out blanket and draped it on the ground before plopping down on it.

 

Baekhyun looked into his own bag too and it was only when he found a similar blanket that he replied to the other.

 

"That sounds like an excuse because you think _you_ might get cold," he said, looking at him with suspicion. There was no reason for Chanyeol to suddenly care for him.

 

"I don’t get cold, idiot. I’m dead," Chanyeol snapped.

 

Baekhyun instantly turned idle. He hadn’t meant to say that. He hadn’t meant to mock Chanyeol this way. He bit his lower lip, sinking his teeth into the flesh harshly to try and get himself together again.

 

"I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that. Sorry," he repeated, looking at Chanyeol in the eyes and hoping that he knew Baekhyun really didn’t mean to say that. He knew this was a sensitive topic. He might often use it against Chanyeol but he had no reason to now, not when Chanyeol had shown a tiny bit of kindness.

 

It seemed to have vanished, however. Chanyeol snorted and looked away from Baekhyun, rummaging through his bag again.

 

"All you ever do is apologize. Uselessly," he muttered, voice so low that it almost seemed like he was talking to himself.

 

He wasn’t. Baekhyun had heard him, had heard the mocking sway in his voice. And maybe he deserved it after what he had said but that didn’t mean Chanyeol was allowed to do that. To always mock Baekhyun whenever he was apologizing. He was aware of how often he did that, he didn’t need Chanyeol to remind him and make fun of him.

 

Maybe Chanyeol didn’t deserve Baekhyun apologizing to him. Maybe Baekhyun should really stop doing it. He clenched his teeth and shot up to his feet. They were in open air but he felt stifled, Chanyeol’s presence heaving down on him like a big, threatening, dark blue cloud. 

 

"I’ll go find stuff to burn on my own," was all he said before glancing at Chanyeol a last time and walking away.

 

He didn’t care. He was already laying on the blanket, arms crossed under his head and eyes closed. Baekhyun was grateful. He didn’t like his gaze. He didn’t like the way it made his skin crawl on itself with the urge to run away.

 

And Baekhyun did, in a way, run away. He walked as far away as possible, even if it was useless. There was nothing but plain, flat soil and grass that stretched around them endlessly. Chanyeol would probably be able to locate him no matter how far Baekhyun would walk away. Not that he would. He had learned. He wouldn’t survive in the Cave on its own. He might not even survive with Chanyeol by his side either, at this rate.

 

He focused on calming himself down, occasionally finding dry branches  and collecting them. There wasn’t much and Baekhyun didn’t really care either. The wind was howling around him, strong enough to seep under his oversized hoodie. It wasn’t cold per se, just uncomfortable, so maybe putting on a fire might actually be a good idea.

 

With his foot, he kneaded the grass, waiting to feel or hear something crack under his toes. When he felt something, he leaned down to grab it from amongst the wild grass. The branch felt bony against his finger pads, harsh and leathery. He had touched a bird’s bone with those same fingers. He stood there, looking down at the branch. Chanyeol hadn’t even thanked him. 

 

He clenched his fingers around the branch and dropped it instantly when pain pulsed through his wrist. Wincing, he pressed the branches between his abdomen and his good forearm, grabbing his wrist with his now bare hand. He tried turning and clenching his hand slowly, measuring the pain. It had been hurting ever since he had fallen on his arm after the bird had surged between the trees back in the forest. It was sore but not sprained. Baekhyun knew what a sprained wrist felt like.

 

Still holding onto his pained wrist, he breathed out a long sigh. This was a dangerous journey. It could turn bad at any moment, especially with this hostile barrier between Chanyeol and him. He closed his eyes and gulped down the tremor in his throat. He wanted to go home. Back to the Above. He wanted to find a home. Far from high school, far from his father, far from everything else. He wanted to get this over with quickly and never see Chanyeol again.

 

This would be so much easier and quicker if Chanyeol stopped being an asshole to him. He didn’t even know why he acted like that with him. As far as Baekhyun had seen, Chanyeol wasn’t a bad person, he didn’t act half as mean with anyone else as he did with Baekhyun. He couldn’t understand him.

 

But he would try. For his own sake. Because he had no choice in this and this time, Baekhyun wouldn’t make it even more difficult for himself. This time, he would try and make this as painless for himself as possible right from the start. He had learned. He would learn more.

 

With a newfound determination, Baekhyun spent the next few minutes looking for more dry plants and branches to burn. Or maybe it was more than a few minutes. He couldn’t tell, not when he had no means to measure time. Not when time didn’t matter in this place.

 

Either way, by the time he was walking back to their tiny camp, Baekhyun felt much more at ease and calmer than when he had left in a hurry. Chanyeol hadn’t moved a single finger, still laying on the dirty blanket, eyes closed, expression serene. It was odd. Blue was supposed to be a serene, calming color. On Chanyeol, it looked angry most of the time.

 

Baekhyun let all the branches and dry varieties of plants drop on the ground in a loud clatter. He saw Chanyeol’s shoulders twitch. These branches really did sound like bones. Or at least the way bones sounded in video games and movies. This would be his last petty action, he promised himself when Chanyeol still didn’t say anything and remained idle.

 

He dropped on the ground, sitting on the grass rather than on his blanket since he didn’t want to risk lighting the fire too close to himself. His blanket taking fire was the last thing he needed at the moment. He stared at the branches and dry leaves for a short while, chewing on his lower lip in thought. 

 

He had never had to light a fire before. He had no idea how he was supposed to do it. He glanced at Chanyeol. He wished he was as good at ignoring things as the other was. He dragged his gaze back down to the the branches and grabbed the two stones he had managed to find. The wind blew, ruffling his air harshly. It was colder than earlier. If he didn’t have something to keep him warm through the night, he would risk getting sick. He didn’t need that either.

 

Grabbing the two stones, Baekhyun took a deep breath. He could do this. He clutched them in his hands as hard as possible and rubbed them together once in a harsh stroke, pointing towards the branches. Nothing happened. He did it again, this time with more strength, the stones wailing into his ears uglily as he rubbed them together. He was let down once again. He frowned. He had seen fire being lit up more than once in games and movies. They always used similar stones if they couldn’t find anything else.

 

He was aware that it was stupid to keep comparing this world to video games but that was his only anchor, his only way to keep his mind steady. He rubbed the stones together, again, again, continuously, focusing as hard as possible, ignoring how painful to his ears the sound was because he needed that fire and he would light it on his own because he didn’t need anyone’s help and especially not that asshole Chanyeol’s.

 

Pain suddenly shot up through his arm, one of the stone flying out of his hands and landing right on Chanyeol’s blanket. He cursed under his breath and let go of the other stone to hold onto his wrist instead, vainly trying to contain the pain in the palm of his hand. He looked at the lump of branches. There was no fire. There hadn’t been even a single spark. And now his wrist hurt more than earlier. He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw. 

 

It was okay. he just had to try harder. He just had to grab the stones and try again when his wrist didn’t hurt anymore. He could do this. On his own. He would do it.

 

"There’s a lighter in my bag."

 

Baekhyun looked up at Chanyeol. He remained silent for a short moment, staring at the other’s relaxed features. His eyes were still closed, as if he hadn’t just spoken.

 

"What?" Baekhyun asked, dumbfounded.

 

Chanyeol opened his eyes and sighed. He sat up at once and dragged his bag closer to him, rummaging inside again under Baekhyun’s surprised gaze. When his hand appeared again, it was holding a bright green lighter.

 

A lighter. Chanyeol had a lighter all along but had let him struggle until now. Was it all because Baekhyun had offended him? Baekhyun wasn’t sure whether he despised Chanyeol or himself more at that moment.

 

Speechless, he watched as Chanyeol shifted closer to the stack of branches and leaves, ordering them into a lower and better lump, circling the branches around the leaves and adding the shortest bits of bark in. He grabbed one of the leaves, snapped his thumb against the lighter’s button, pushing a flame out. It instantly started eating at the leaf and when Chanyeol put it down with the others, the small flame started spreading into a proper fire. He added a few more of branches and leaned down to gently blow on the flames that grew further. The fire drew fluttery shadows on his face, the orangey glow giving more life to the blue of his skin. He had done it as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

 

Baekhyun felt stupid as he kept his gaze on the fire while Chanyeol moved to sit on his blanket again. He wasn’t sure whether he wanted to cry or laugh. He did neither.

 

"Thanks," he muttered because even if Chanyeol had made a fool of him again, he had at least still lit the fire up for Baekhyun.

 

The fact that the Cave had access to the Above had completely escaped his mind. He wasn’t sure why he thought that they would have to make a fire as cavemen used to.

 

Fortunately, Chanyeol didn’t comment on it. Baekhyun had expected him to laugh or anything equally as wounding for his pride but instead, Chanyeol rummaged through his bag again, still just as silent. 

 

This time, it was another sandwich that he held out to Baekhyun. He stared at it for a second, taken aback. That made two nice gestures back to back. This was odd. But Baekhyun was hungry and this time, he didn’t question the other. This time, he would accept any sign of kindness without ruining it. He grabbed the sandwich and slowly ripped the tinfoil off. It was another tuna and mayonnaise sandwich that tasted just as heavenly as the last one. 

 

He crossed his legs and sat more comfortably on the edge of his blanket, close enough to the fire for the warmth to slowly melt away the tension in his shoulders. He glanced at Chanyeol. He wasn’t eating a sandwich again but he had a pack of gummy bears in his hands. Baekhyun winced and took a big bite of his sandwich as Chanyeol dumped green and white gummy bears into his mouth. He hated these.

 

They both ate in silence, the crackling fire saving Baekhyun from drowning in the awkward tension lingering between them. Once he was done with the sandwich, he felt a little calmer and more clearheaded. He crumbled the tinfoil into a ball that he shoved in his backpack. When he turned towards the fire again, it was just in time to catch the pack of gummy bears that Chanyeol threw him. Pressing it against his chest where it had hit, Baekhyun looked at the other with wide eyes. 

 

Chanyeol shrugged and moved to lay back down. His feet were dangerously close to the fire. Baekhyun said nothing, looking down at the pack of gummy bears. Only the red ones were left inside. His favorites. He glanced at Chanyeol.

 

This was unusual. There was no particular difference on his expression, it was the same blue spread of indifference. He was being a bit too kind. Baekhyun wasn’t sure whether he was supposed to feel suspicious or relieved. He settled on throwing a tiny red bear into his mouth. Maybe Chanyeol was also starting to think that if they were to spend a long time together on this journey, they should definitely try getting along.

 

Maybe Baekhyun should thank him. For the sandwich and the candy. But he was scared to say something that would ruin it all. He hated himself just a little bit for being able to blurt out upsetting things to Chanyeol without taking a second to think about them but always taking long moments to muster the courage to say something nice. He had lost the occasion again. Or maybe not. Maybe he should do it.

 

"How is it outside?" Chanyeol spoke up before Baekhyun could gather the proper words into his head.

 

He looked at him, meeting his gaze. He was turned towards Baekhyun, his hands shoved on the pockets of his hoodie. This time, Baekhyun was proud of himself for not remaining speechless.

 

"You were living under my bed. Didn’t you see it for yourself?" he asked, not accusingly but just curious as to why Chanyeol would ask him that question when he probably had seen everything. Or maybe he was just incredulous at the fact that chanyeol was trying to make conversation with him.

 

"I already said I rarely left my spot under your bed," Chanyeol said, surprisingly no negativity in his voice. Just a conversational tone. "And even if I did, looking out of the window isn’t enough to know what’s actually going on outside. Outside your room, in the world."

 

Baekhyun nodded. "What do you wanna know?" he asked gently.

 

Chanyeol looked entirely different from earlier now. There was no real shift in his expression. Maybe it was the tone that made him look softer than before.

 

"Everything," he said at first before humming softly. "How many iPhone generations did I miss?" he asked, eyes narrowed.

 

Baekhyun couldn’t hold in a chortle at that. He hadn’t expected that to be the first thing Chanyeol wanted to know.

 

"They released the iPhone 8 last year," he replied. The way Chanyeol’s eyes widened comically at that was unexpected but not repulsive. On the contrary, it was the first time he saw something other than smugness or indifference on the other’s face. It was a nice change.

 

"The iPhone 8?" Chanyeol repeated before looking away and up at the sky. "Damn it. I knew the merchants were lying to me when they said there was nothing but the iPhone 7 on the market."

 

"You have a market?" Baekhyun asked and he had to hold his laughter at how upset Chanyeol looked. Like this, he seemed like just one of those students at high school. The ones who wanted nothing but the latest electronic devices. Except, that felt like a wrong comparison. Chanyeol had never mocked him for having an old Nokia phone like they always did. 

 

"We can be pretty human when we want to," Chanyeol sighed. He still looked regretful.

 

"How do you buy things then? Do you have some kind of currency?" he asked, both because he was curious and because maybe a change of topic would make Chanyeol feel better. 

 

Baekhyun was a bit weirded out by this new show of emotion. Not in a bad way. It was just unusual.

 

Chanyeol shook his head. "We just trade things of equal value against what we want to buy." He stopped to think for a while. "Most of the time, at least. Some people don’t know the true value of objects in the Above. It’s easy to swindle people."

 

"Let me guess. That’s experience talking."

 

Chanyeol looks at him, the crooked smile back on his lips. That was more familiar. Still foreign because they were actually having a conversation again, however.

 

"I once traded a cheap but sparkly tiara for an Android tablet."

 

"That doesn’t surprise me," Baekhyun couldn’t help but snort.

 

He tensed up right after, looking up at Chanyeol hesitantly. He didn’t seem to mind Baekhyun’s words, however. He looked rather proud of himself instead.

 

"Before I died," Chanyeol said as he sat up. The red gummy bear Baekhyun dumped into his mouth didn’t taste as sweet as it should. He would never get used to the thought that he was in a world of dead monsters. "Before I died, I was watching this drama."

 

Baekhyun fiddled with the hem of his hoodie, observing the other. After iPhones, Chanyeol wanted to talk about dramas. The more they talked, the more Chanyeol turned out to be rather _normal._ Different from the jerk Baekhyun knew him to be. This made him seem a bit realer. Baekhyun had to conceal a smile by rubbing his nose. 

 

"What drama?" he asked when Chanyeol was too busy adding more dry branches to the fire to speak.

 

"I think it was called My Love From the Stars?" he mused, tilting his head. "Something like that. Do you know it?"

 

It was a drama from 2015. Or was it 2014? Baekhyun couldn’t tell exactly but it had been a few years. That meant Chanyeol had died around that time. It had been around four years then. Baekhyun wasn’t sure why he felt his heart clenching at that realization. He had been around fourteen or fifteen when Chanyeol had died.

 

"Of course I know it," he said, bringing his legs up against his chest. "Everyone knows it. It was really popular. Did you like it?" he asked curiously.

 

He couldn’t imagine Chanyeol watching a drama. Yet again, he knew next to nothing about Chanyeol. This conversation was the sole proof of that.

 

"Jun Jihyun was my ideal type," Chanyeol shrugged casually. This, on the other hand, was not weird at all. "I died before I could see the ending. Did you watch it?"

 

Baekhyun bit his lower lip.

 

"I did," he muttered. Chanyeol wanted to know the ending of a drama he had missed because of death. He wasn’t sure whether he wanted to laugh or cry. Again. That seemed to happen a lot here. "Want me to tell you?"

 

Chanyeol merely nodded. He sat up properly, straightening his back and giving his entire attention to Baekhyun instantly, even leaning forward a little bit. His eye were big, Baekhyun noticed for the first time in a while. He looked like a child stuck in front of the TV, awaiting the next episode of his favorite cartoon. Except he was taller than anyone Baekhyun had ever met, had blue skin, red eyes, and acted like an asshole most of the time.

 

But not now. Now, as Baekhyun recounted him the amazing, slow, and romantic kiss shared between Jun Jihyun and Kim Soohyun as they were dressed elegantly, he had a smile on his face. The only words leaving Chanyeol’s mouth were of amazement and regret for having missed that ending. 

 

Later on, he found out that Chanyeol was good at imitations. But Baekhyun was better than him at imitating Cheon Songyi unlocking her car. Chanyeol had a nice laugh. His scrunched up nose and his closed eyes as he laughed wasn’t an expression Baekhyun had ever expected to witness. He laughed louder than Baekhyun.

 

As they continued talking about the Above, as he replied to Chanyeol’s every question, told him about the latest movies, trends, and current politics, Baekhyun realized something. No matter how  unexpected it was, he hadn’t shared such a long conversation with anyone from the Above.

 

Chanyeol was supposed to be dead, but he made Baekhyun feel more enlivened than ever as he sat there, hanging onto Baekhyun’s every word and _listening_ to him, _seeing_ him.

 

Chanyeol gave him his first taste of friendship again. This time, Baekhyun didn’t let himself get carried away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Baekhyun opened his eyes, the wind was still howling without any care for those who were trying to sleep. Like Baekhyun. Who had been awakened by the wind.

 

He turned to lay on his side, pulling his blanket up over his nose and closing his eyes again. He felt the blanket that served as a barrier between his body and the bare grassy ground bunching up under him but he paid no mind to it. He was still tired and he wanted to sleep more. If the wind was still howling then it meant it was still night.

 

The fire was still gently fluttering in front of him, he could feel its warm glow on his face and on the rest of his body. It wrapped around him like a third, much more comforting blanket. He had no idea when he had fallen asleep. The last thing he remembered was telling Chanyeol about the latest Marvel movie and its quality compared to the comics. He must have fallen asleep as Chanyeol told him about his own favorite movies. He had learned a lot about Chanyeol through that conversation, enough for Chanyeol not to be reduced to a monstrous entity in his eyes anymore.

 

His eyes fluttered open and he looked at the figure laying a few steps away from him, on the other side of the fire, through a drowsy haze. Chanyeol was laying on his back, the blanket pulled up to his chest and his hands laced over his own tummy. His head was turned in a way that Baekhyun couldn’t really see his face but he was sleeping. His body hadn’t been so slack even once throughout the day.

 

Baekhyun took the occasion to observe him properly. The wind ruffled his silver hair, the strands gleaming under the yellow and grey coat the sky adorned. This valley seemed to be the only place where no lampposts were planted and there was nothing but the natural light to help Baekhyun make out Chanyeol’s figure. His ear stuck out amidst silver strands, a gentle blue, like a drop of sky lost in the vast plains of the moon. The freckle-like scales on his cheeks trickled down towards his ear and then dribbled down his neck, sparkling serenely under the fire’s glow. His fingers were clutching the blanket over his chest, a few more green scales crescent around one knuckle. He looked human as he slept so tranquilly. He was entirely idle. 

 

Baekhyun frowned, blinking a little. The fire made his eyes burn and bleariness blurred his sight. Chanyeol was still. Too still. His chest was unmoving. It didn’t heave as he breathed. He wasn’t breathing.

 

He sat up at once, his eyes urgent as they focused on Chanyeol’s chest for a few seconds that he counted in his head, until ten, and then fifteen, without blinking even once, without letting his gaze stray away. Chanyeol wasn’t breathing. He scrambled up to his feet, tripping on his backpack as both sleep and exhaustion made it difficult for him to coordinate his movements. He avoided the flames that threateningly bended towards him under the wind’s weight and dropped on his knees next to Chanyeol.

 

His gaze traced over his figure once, he focused, hoping that it was just sleep, hoping that it was just his wild heartbeat playing tricks on him. It wasn’t. He stretched a trembling hand out, held it right under Chanyeol’s nose and then right in front of his parted lips. Nothing. There was no breath grazing his skin. He pulled his hand away but couldn’t rip his gaze away from Chanyeol’s face.

 

He wasn’t breathing. That wasn’t normal. He should be breathing. He had been fine a while ago. Why wasn’t he breathing now? Thoughts rushed in Baekhyun’s head, crashed against his skull in a loud clatter and pushed him forward until his hands grabbed Chanyeol’s arm.

 

"Chanyeol," he called out, voice hoarse and broken from sleep. He gently shook his arm, weakly at first. His skin was icy even through the fabric of his hoodie. 

 

No answer. He was still not breathing. He shook his arm harder and then grabbed his shoulders. He couldn’t do this. Whatever _this_ was. They were supposed to find the Skull Man. This couldn’t happen. He shook Chanyeol harder, hard enough for his own body to shake along, calling his name once, twice, louder each time.

 

It felt like an eternity before crimson eyes fluttered open and icy fingers clutched his.

 

"What are you doing?" Chanyeol groaned, blinking up at him, gaze unfocused but his grip around Baekhyun’s fingers tight.

 

It took Baekhyun a blank moment to realize that Chanyeol was looking at him and talking but when he did, he felt his entire body draining out of a tension he hadn’t even noticed was clutching him tight. The tips of Chanyeol’s claws dug into the back of his hands and for the first time ever, Baekhyun didn’t mind.

 

He was relieved. It washed over him at once, too fast, too strongly, enough for words to stumble out of his mouth when he parted his lips.

 

"I just thought— You weren’t breathing so I just thought you were—"

 

He didn’t end his sentence. He didn’t know what he thought. He didn’t know anything. He didn’t even understand why he was so relieved that Chanyeol was okay.

 

The grip on his hands loosened. Chanyeol blinked again and suddenly, his eyes were focused, glaring right into Baekhyun’s fiercely enough for Baekhyun to feel the fire crackling behind him cutting through his throat.

 

"I’m fucking dead, Baekhyun. Why the fuck would you expect me to breathe?"

 

Baekhyun gulped down and each of those words felt like flames sizzling down his lungs.

 

Chanyeol wasn’t human. He didn’t need to breathe.

 

His hands were still hovering over Chanyeol, as if he was ready to shake him up again to make sure he was breathing and okay. But Chanyeol didn’t breathe. He just didn’t. He gathered his hands on his lap, clutching them together to stop the tremor in his fingers.

 

The serenity on Chanyeol’s features was gone. His hair wasn’t gleaming anymore, his scales weren’t as sparkling as drops of water, but looked as sharp as the broken pieces of a blade instead. His jawline was tense and he was still glaring at Baekhyun, stronger than ever. For the first time ever, it was hatred that Baekhyun associated to the crimson of his eyes.

 

Baekhyun didn’t know what had gotten over him.

 

"Just fucking sleep and leave me alone," Chanyeol grunted before turning away from Baekhyun and leaving him there, dumbfounded and utterly foolish, still on his knees next to him.

 

Slowly, he scrambled away and back to his own makeshift, uncomfortable bed. He laid back down. The grass under his back felt like stones digging into his spine. He took a shivering breath in and closed his eyes.

 

No matter how human Chanyeol had seemed for a short moment, he wasn’t.

 

Baekhyun couldn’t find sleep again that night. He couldn’t, not when the realization that Chanyeol wasn’t human kept flashing through his mind, brightly, sharply, to ensure that he wouldn’t forget it again.

 

It was difficult not to forget, however, when a second breath patterned his own through the rest of the night, as if to remember. Or to forget what Baekhyun was trying to mark into his head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Didn’t we just get out of a forest?"

 

They had encountered nothing but forests the whole day. Granted, they all had been different in tree type and density, Baekhyun was starting to despite this same, recurrent landscape. He wasn’t even sure whether this one was different from the last one. They were all starting to blend together and Baekhyun was starting to hate trees.

 

Especially trees that looked so eery and artificial. They were standing right in front of the forest but Baekhyun felt like they were about to cross the border to another world. The trees were tall, he couldn’t see their summit no matter how far he tilted his head up, and they were straight, as if sharpened and carved out by an attentive blade. They were planted in front of them in a neat, straight row, cutting out a border or a barrier between the rest of the forest and the valley.

 

It looked unnatural. And dark. Baekhyun didn’t like unnatural and dark things.

 

"This place is huge," Chanyeol said and Baekhyun’s gaze snapped back to him in surprise. He was looking up towards the sky, probably sizing out the trees. "This is only one of the hundreds of forests in the Cave."

 

Baekhyun hadn’t expected him to answer.

 

They hadn’t talked even once since last night, when Baekhyun had abruptly woken him up and offended him in the worst possible way, again. They hadn’t fought either, silence had just been having between them like a straight, eery, unbreachable border. A very awkward one.

 

Chanyeol silently stepped forward, between two trees that had the width of a lamppost, and Baekhyun followed along. As soon as they engulfed into the forest, the air around them felt colder. Baekhyun hoisted the straps of his backpack up his shoulders before shoving his hands in his hoodie’s pockets, concealing his fingers from the cold.

 

There was no wind, it had stopped a long while ago to announce the end of the night, so the chill wasn’t even something Baekhyun could properly feel against his skin. It felt like more of a sensation rather than a physical manifestation. Chanyeol was walking beside him, for once, and he didn’t look as cold as Baekhyun felt but Chanyeol never felt the cold so Baekhyun couldn’t base himself on the other’s reaction to figure out whether this weather was normal or not.

 

The forest was dense, enough to prevent them from walking in a straight line for more than a few seconds. They had to zigzag around trees, mind the bulging roots, and Baekhyun could barely even see anything. Not only did the Cave in itself lack proper lighting but the density of the trees and their shadows darkened the amount of light available for him to see where he put his feet. At least, he didn’t trip and fall. That was still something.

 

The deeper they walked into the woods, the stranger the trees started to look. Most of them were skinny, sometimes even thin enough for Baekhyun to qualify them as bony, but a lot of them also had weird shapes. One particular tree barred their path, growing sideways instead of vertically like the others, and they had to follow it along until its end to contour it. Baekhyun thought it would be easier to just jump over it but didn’t question why Chanyeol didn’t suggest they did that. 

 

A lot of trees had other unusual shapes, some of them much, much shorter than the others, even shorter than Baekhyun, and others crooked and folded, a complete opposite of the barrier-like trees at the entrance of the forest. The leaves weren’t gooey like they had been when a monstrous bird had chased them in another forest. He couldn’t see the leaves of most trees, they were too high up for that, but those he could see barely even looked like anything but the frail fiber of the skeleton of dead leaves. However, what caught his attention the most was that some of the trees had an almost human shape.

 

It was mostly the shortest ones, with larger trunks that were sliced in half like long, crooked, maybe dislocated legs, a pair of arm-like branches pointed towards the sky as if imploring an entity only they could see, and tiny, bushy branches weaved together at the top like a mussed head. It was frightening but mostly astonishing. Every single spot in this world seemed to carry particular specificities and Baekhyun once again took it all in with wide eyes.

 

Chanyeol stopped walking after some time and stood there, hands grasping onto his bag’s straps as he looked around, lips pursed and eyebrows furrowed. Baekhyun looked at him for a bit, until he deemed that Chanyeol was merely assessing where they were, and then studied his surroundings a little more. On his left, there was a human-shaped tree. This one was as tall as Chanyeol but it was bended forward, legs planted on the ground and arms rooted only centimeters away from where the bark of its legs disappeared into the ground.

 

Baekhyun stepped closer to it, observing it in amazement. This one had a prominent head, fibered leaves short and very few on top of it. He leaned forward and examined the bark on the bumpy shoulders. It was wrinkled, a dark green like all the other trees around them were, and it looked more like clay than wood but Baekhyun had a feeling it would be rock hard under his finger pads were he to touch it. Curious, he reached towards it with a single finger, right where the deformed shoulder blended into what he supposed could be a neck.

 

Before his finger could even graze the bark, two white holes opened up right at the center of the head and blinked at him rapidly. With a started yelp, Baekhyun stepped back at once and tripped, arms flailing around to prevent himself from crashing on the ground.

 

"Don’t look at them in the eyes," Chanyeol’s voice rose behind him and Baekhyun ripped his gaze away from the two white, blinking holes. Eyes. They were eyes. He looked at Chanyeol instead. He had the faint trace of a smile on. Amused, not mocking. "They can make you lose your mind."

 

Chanyeol motioned him to follow along as he started walking again and with a last glance to the tree, Baekhyun trailed after him. This time, his eyes were more attentive, in case he’d catch sight of more white hole-like eyes.

 

"What sin did they commit?" he asked shortly after they resumed walking. It wasn’t difficult to figure out that most of these trees were monsters. Baekhyun should’ve thought about it sooner. That explained why there was so many forests around.

 

"No one really knows," Chanyeol answered just as a dry twig cracked under his foot. He looked down at it and continued walking. "Most people think that they’ve harmed the earth created by the Almighty and were turned into poisonous trees that are constantly in pain. You can hear them wail and moan in pain usually, that’s why it’s called the Wailing Forest."

 

"But it’s entirely silent," he noted, taking a big step over a long root that bugled out of the ground.

 

"It’s because they know we’re here," Chanyeol said before stopping in his tracks at once. Baekhyun watched in confusion as he pressed a hand against the bat strapped to his bag for a short moment, head tilted. He then let go of the bat and continued walking. "Others think that they’re just people who can’t be let out even amongst monsters so they can never move away from here."

 

"They know we’re here," Baekhyun repeated to himself, glancing around.

 

Chanyeol didn’t say anything. Baekhyun wondered why he had said the trees could make him lose his mind. He stared at a tree while passing next to it. Now that he knew exactly where to look, he noticed two small crescent lines in the bark, slits that would open into plain white eyes. There was a third line, longer, a bit lower, more deformed and prominent, horizontal over the trunk.

 

"Come on, Baekhyun," Chanyeol called out and when Baekhyun looked at him, he was already a few steps away. He hadn’t noticed that he had stopped in front of the tree instead of walking right past it.

 

He walked towards the other, holding onto one strap of his bag tight. This place was creepy.

 

 _"Come on, Baekhyun,_ " he heard behind him and he stopped again, looking over his shoulder.

 

It was the tree. With twin white holes that served as eyes and a wide expanse of the same color a little lower, long, crooked, irregular. A mouth. It widened into a sinister smile. Baekhyun snapped his gaze ahead of him and quickened his pace to catch up to Chanyeol. This place was _too_ creepy.

 

The whispers were abundant after that, just as the blinking white eyes were. Baekhyun didn’t pay attention to them, focusing on following Chanyeol who didn’t seem affected by them either. They’d been walking for a while already and Baekhyun wasn’t sure what they were here for but he wished Chanyeol would just hurry up. Especially when he started making out his name in a few whispers.

 

"What are we here for?" he asked after a while, when it was difficult not to pay attention to the chilling whispers. He had to distract himself.

 

"We’re going to peel off bark from one of the trees," Chanyeol replied and Baekhyun should’ve been impressed by the fact that he was actually answering to his questions without any negativity. Instead, he frowned.

 

"What use is that even going to be?"

 

So far, they had a bird’s bone and now they needed to get a tree’s bark. That didn’t even make sense. Baekhyun felt like he was risking his life for trivial things.

 

Chanyeol sighed. "I don’t know. I don’t need to know, I only need to bring it to him."

 

Right. The Skull Man. He sighed.

 

"At least, these trees don’t move, right?" he questioned, hesitatingly looking around.

 

"They don’t," he said, finally looking at Baekhyun. His eyes were even redder than usual in the dark of the forest, his sharp teeth _somehow_ gleaming as he smiled. "If they moved, they would’ve grabbed you and perched you on their branches already. You’re basically glowing. Like a Christmas ball."

 

"I’m glowing," Baekhyun deadpanned.

 

"You are. Because you’re alive," Chanyeol said before stopping again and looking around. Of course. Of course, Baekhyun glowed like a lighthouse in a world full of monsters. "This tree will do."

 

Baekhyun followed him as he stepped closer to one of the tall, skinny trees and examined it. Chanyeol reached a hand to touch it and Baekhyun didn’t know why he expected his hand to suddenly burst or melt or get torn off but it was a bit of a relief when none of that happened. Instead, Chanyeol slowly trailed his fingertips along a crack on the trunk before stepping back again.

 

He rummaged through his backpack for a while, retrieving a cotton bag and, surprisingly, a kitchen knife. Baekhyun raised his eyebrows when Chanyeol handed him the bag.

 

"I’ll do it. Just hold this open for me," he said, turning back to the tree.

 

He held the knife tightly and examined the tree a little more. Baekhyun winced. These trees were alive.

 

"Is it going to hurt them?"

 

"I don’t know," Chanyeol said as he pressed his free hand against the trunk and brandished the knife with the other. "And I don’t really care."

 

With a sharp movement, his arm sliced down through the air and he planted the knife into the tree. Instantly, a strident wail pierced out of it, loud enough for Baekhyun to squeeze his eyes shut and grit his teeth together as he winced.

 

"Looks like it does hurt," Chanyeol said and Baekhyun opened his eyes again.

 

The tree’s eyes were open now, two white holes that almost seemed to glare at Chanyeol as its mouth was curved downwards in a cartoonish way.

 

 _"That is very rude,"_ it hissed, voice distorted yet clear at the same time, still high-pitched but at a lower volume that was definitely more bearable than its first wail.

 

Baekhyun bit onto his lower lip, completely weirded out by the situation, but still stepped closer to Chanyeol, still holding onto the bag. Chanyeol said nothing, ignoring the tree and grunting as he tried bringing the knife down to cut through the bark. It looked like a difficult task, definitely much more difficult than carving out a tree back in the Above. Or at least Baekhyun thought so, he had never stabbed a tree in his life before.

 

 _"If you’re trying to carve me out, at least do it properly, boy,"_ the tree spoke again and this time, it wasn’t a hiss but more of a mocking snicker.

 

Baekhyun should’ve been satisfied by the fact that Chanyeol was at the receiving end of mockeries but instead, it only intensified the unease churning in his stomach. Still keeping silent, Chanyeol forced the knife down and finally, the slit of the knife into the bark turned into a longer line, a crack that could be worked up further.

 

_"Why don’t you help him, shorty? You’re kind of useless there."_

 

These words were directed at him and Baekhyun looked up at the tree. Its eyes looked profound, endlessly digging into the trunk. A chill ran down his spine and he looked away, focusing back on Chanyeol’s efforts to carve out the bark. The kitchen knife was thin, much thinner than it should be for something that looked as difficult as this.

 

 _"Is it because you’re much weaker?"_ the tree called out again and Baekhyun clenched his jaw, glueing his gaze to Chanyeol’s hand. " _Looks like we do have a weakling amongst us,"_ it continued before promptly wailing again. 

 

This one sounded closer to amusement than agony, however. It was a rusty sound, a groan and the crack of old wood under heavy shoes all at the same time. Baekhyun ignored it. He ignored it and tightening his grip on the bag. He focused on the sound of the flimsy knife scratching against wood.

 

" _Were you bullied at school?"_ it spoke again, a whisper that sounded much too clear to Baekhyun’s ears. Too clear. The way every single hateful word sounded loud and decipherable when thrown at him by a crowd. _"You probably were. You’re one of those freaks, aren’t you? The weird ones. The ones that get their heads bashed against the—"_

 

The rest of the monstrous tree’s sentence was cut off by a boisterous, sharp wail of pain when Chanyeol abruptly pulled the knife out of the trunk. Various curses were spat at them then but Baekhyun could barely hear them when memories and insults and criticism and humiliation flashed through his head. He took a shivering breath in. Chanyeol turned to him.

 

He wasn’t sweating or panting but his features carried a faint hint of exertion when he met Baekhyun’s gaze through his frown.

 

"Don’t listen to them," he said, voice heavy but gaze steady.

 

Baekhyun nodded faintly. He couldn’t find the strength to part his lips and say anything. Chanyeol turned back towards the tree and continued lengthening the small line he had carved into the bark. Baekhyun pulled his feet apart a little and stood straighter. He shouldn’t listen. He knew these words by heart. He had heard them so many times before. From too many people.

 

 _"Oh, I was right, wasn’t I?"_ the tree spoke again.

 

_Don’t listen to them. Don’t listen. Ignore them._

 

 _"I don’t know. He looks like a nerd to me,"_ another voice spoke out from next to him and when he looked, a second pair of eyes blinked at him. This tree’s voice was lower, greasier. A big mouth stretched out, as if it was yawning. He flinched. Ignored it.

 

 _"If he’s in this world, he wasn’t smart enough to stay away. Looks like a fake nerd to me,"_ the first tree replied.

 

 _Fake nerd._ He had heard that one before. Too many times. Because he was always alone and always reading his textbooks and doing his homework but never got good grades and had to retake his freshman year and he always heard that one but he still took a trembling breath in and closed his eyes. He shook his head. These were monsters. These weren’t human. They couldn’t move. They couldn’t do anything to him. They snickered, loud, like the croak of birds and the horn of a bulky train.

 

He looked at Chanyeol. He was focused. The line he had carved out was longer now. 

 

"How do they know?" Baekhyun asked, despising himself a little when his voice wasn’t louder than a whisper.

 

"I don’t know. They always do," Chanyeol said before grunting when he pulled the knife out again. The tree didn’t wail this time. "They’re good at reading people. Manipulating them," he added as his hand fell towards the tree again and he stabbed the trunk. 

 

 _"Those who venture in rarely ever get out of the forest,"_ the second tree drawled out, its voice dripping on Baekhyun’s skin like those green, gooey leaves.

 

Baekhyun took a second to register those words.

 

"Then what the hell are we doing here?!" he couldn’t help but snap at Chanyeol.

 

Chanyeol groaned, letting go of the knife that remained planted on the tree and turning to him as he threw his hands up in exasperation. "How many times are you going to ask? We have to do this!"

 

Baekhyun gritted his teeth at that, choosing not to reply, and Chanyeol went back to carving a second line right next to the first one.

 

" _Oh, so I was right again."_

 

_"You were!"_

 

 _"He was dragged here. Poor him,"_ the tree snickered perfectly comfortably, as if Chanyeol wasn’t stabbing it as hard as he could.

 

_"Maybe he really is weak and stupid."_

 

"At least I’m fucking alive," Baekhyun couldn’t help but snarl at the trees who fell silent at that.

 

It only lasted a second before they mimicked his words and —he supposed— his expression. he looked away from them and did his best to ignore them.

 

They continued tempting him for a while but Baekhyun found that it was no different than anything else he had heard in his school’s hallways and classrooms. It was just words. Words that, no matter how humiliating, were uttered by dead people turned into trees. It was much more easier to ignore them when he knew what they were going to say before they did it. Baekhyun had told himself the same things too many times, alone, in his bed. Hearing from trees wasn’t that intimidating after he got used to it.

 

Now that he thought about it, the first tree’s voice sounded pretty similar to Taeyong’s. He had been the one to lead things against Baekhyun the most.  Baekhyun wondered what had happened to them. He wondered what was going on in the Above. He hadn’t thought about that for a while. He watched as Chanyeol gripped on the piece of bark he had carved out and pulled on it. It shattered into a tiny piece that he dunked into the bag Baekhyun was holding. He went back in with the knife, carving out more.

 

After a while, the trees seemed to grow tired of Baekhyun’s lack of reaction. They fell silent for a short moment during which Baekhyun couldn’t help but bathe in relief. No matter how much he ignored them, their constant whispers and snickers were stressful.

 

It did not last long, however.

 

_"Boy, you’re pulling too hard. How desperate are you that you’re so violent?"_

 

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol who ripped off another small piece of bark before cursing under his breath. It landed next to the other piece already in the bag.

 

 _"Oh, very desperate,"_ the other tree purred. " _We have a very desperate one amongst us."_

 

Chanyeol stabbed the tree harder and this time, a bigger piece of bark came out.

 

"I’m not a tree," he said as he threw it into the bag again without looking into the tree’s eyes. "I’m certainly not as desperate as you."

 

The trees scoffed in unison.

 

 _"You brought a human into this world, you’re more desperate_ ," one of them said.

 

_"Why do you think he did that?"_

 

This voice came from behind Baekhyun. He glanced over his shoulder to see a third tree blinking up at him irregularly. Chanyeol didn’t react. Baekhyun counted the three pieces of bark in the bag. It was easier to ignore them when he didn’t look at them. It had always been. He glanced at Chanyeol. He didn’t seen to have the same problem as Baekhyun, still diligent in his task.

 

The other two trees hummed as one.

 

 _"Maybe he missed his humanity,"_ the tree next to the carved one said, voice lowered to a sneaky whisper that was obviously meant to be heard.

 

The way Chanyeol’s jawline suddenly tensed up didn’t go unnoticed. Baekhyun’s own body rigidified as he observed the other, teeth sinking into his lower lip.

 

 _"They don’t seem to be getting along well, though,"_ the tree behind them singsonged obnoxiously.

 

_"Oh, no. Look at them. They’re standing too far apart."_

 

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol as a chorus of three gooey, sticky-sounding guffaws arose around them. He was frowning. His movements were sharper and more aggressive.

 

 _"Oh, I know!"_ the tree Chanyeol was carving a bigger piece out of chirped slyly.

 

_"Do you? Tell us!"_

 

 _"My leaves smell jealousy in the air. It isn’t clean. Very blue and dirty,"_ it said before snickering again. The sound turned into a wail when Chanyeol stabbed it. Baekhyun kept looking between the tree and Chanyeol, the distress stirring his stomach slowly morphing into a storm. _"Maybe he just wants to use us to get his humanity back."_

 

_"But that doesn’t make sense. He won’t get his humanity back."_

 

_"He’s a monster. Blue."_

 

 _"Is blue the color of jealousy?"_ the third tree wondered with a teasing lilt in its croaky voice.

 

Then, they all burst into loud cackles that echoed and clashed against Baekhyun’s ears, shrill.  

 

And it was odd. These three voices sounded like whispers and screams at the same time. They were haunting. They weren’t directed at Baekhyun but nonetheless, he felt them wrapping around his throat like the cold air seeping under his clothes. He felt stifled. Chanyeol didn’t stop working even once. It was like he had put himself on some sort of automatism, stabbing, pulling, dragging, and breaking small pieces of bark one after the other. 

 

The bag wasn’t even filled halfway through. There were only fives small pieces inside. The long piece Chanyeol had cut out on the trunk refused to be peeled off in one smooth, big plank no matter how much Chanyeol pulled or gritted with his knife. 

 

Baekhyun saw two white pearls open up on his left and when he looked, a fourth tree had awakened.

 

 _"Blue is the color of sadness and purity,"_ it said.

 

" _But this one isn’t pure,_ " another tree added almost right on top of the last one’s sentence.

 

 _"Look at him. He doesn’t even look at the human,"_ another tree snickered and Baekhyun couldn’t keep track of which one it was anymore, not when the clash of Chanyeol’s knife against the tree was getting louder and louder with each word voiced out mockingly.

 

_"Maybe the jealousy pains him."_

 

_"The envy."_

 

_"Maybe he hates the human. Because of that."_

 

_"Because of the envy."_

 

And it made sense.

 

Whatever they were saying, Baekhyun couldn’t help but think that it wasn’t entirely mockeries. He didn’t know where they even drew these conclusions from but it didn’t sound stupid. It explained a lot of things. He glanced at Chanyeol. His knuckles were turning a much lighter shade of blue as he held onto the knife tightly, his claws kept scratching against the bark as he tried ripping off, the aggression in his gestures was urgent and abundant. 

 

He didn’t even look at Baekhyun once. And it made sense. Baekhyun had never done anything wrong to him, had done nothing to deserve the harsh treatment he usually got. The trees had been right about the bullying, they could be right about this too. About the envy and it being the reason behind Chanyeol’s attitude. About Baekhyun’s humanity paining him.

 

 _"Poor human,_ " two different voices chorused at the same time. Baekhyun gulped down. He couldn’t look away from Chanyeol.

 

 _"He never asked for any of this,"_ a third tree cooed patronizingly.

 

_"But the monster keeps treating him badly."_

 

 _"Ohh,"_ one of them drawled out, close to the howling of the wind, even closer to the satisfied purr of a cat after it crashed its paw on a tiny, insignificant mouse. _"Maybe he reminds the monster of what he’ll never be."_

 

Chortles. Cackles. Loud. Growing louder as Chanyeol froze, knife planted into the tree and hand tight around its handle as he remained idle.

 

 _"Oh, yes. He will never be,"_ the tree on their right said.

 

 _"Never ever,"_ the one behind them said before laughing cacophonously.

 

That lone laugh was weaved into a bigger, more discomforting lump when the other trees joined in, piling up heavily over them.

 

Chanyeol ripped off half of the bark he had carved out on the trunk and threw it into the bag. Half of the piece was still gripping the tree tight.

 

The laughter grew even louder. 

 

Baekhyun could feel it seeping into his head and echoing inside his skull, crashing against his temples and crumbling his mind down his throat where it seemed to clog up against the air he tried breathing. It was louder. Echoing. He looked around. Dozens of eyes were looking right at them. Dozens of mouths were stretched wide into eery laughter.

 

 _"Never,"_ a few voices unanimously said amongst the ongoing laughter. " _He’s going to be a monster."_

 

 _"A monster forever,"_ other voices continued right where the previous ones left off.

 

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol. He was frozen again. This time, his eyes were squeezed tight. The knife was still stabbed into the tree. 

 

" _A blue monster,"_ all the voices whispered at once.

 

" _Monster,"_ they echoed. " _Monster."_

 

_"Forever."_

 

_"A hideous monster."_

 

_"Until the end of time."_

 

_"A monster."_

 

_"Forever."_

 

Chanyeol pressed a hand against the tree. Baekhyun caught the tremor in his fingers before he crushed them against the trunk. His eyes were still squeezed shut. The trees all around them were still chanting the same words, echoing and repeating. Chanyeol looked in pain. Baekhyun knew this feeling.

 

Except this time, it wasn’t him experiencing it. It wasn’t him caged in the humiliation and the pain and what people wanted him to believe about himself. It was Chanyeol.

 

He took a deep, shaky breath in and dropped the bag on the ground. The bark inside clattered, accompanied by the trees’ cackling and croaking. Baekhyun grabbed Chanyeol’s arm and pulled, once, twice, again, and again, harder each time, until Chanyeol finally opened his eyes and looked at him.

 

His gaze was unfocused. The crimson was dulled. The panic coursing through Baekhyun’s veins was fiery. Enough for him to tug on Chanyeol’s arm again. _Those who venture in rarely ever get out of the forest._ That was what the tree had said. This was how it worked.

 

"Get out of here, Chanyeol," Baekhyun said firmly, looking right into his eyes, shaking him to earn his focus. Chanyeol blinked, once, twice, looking at him, hopefully seeing him. 

 

"What?" he muttered, voice almost entirely drowned out by the chants around them. 

 

_Monster. Monster. Forever._

 

They kept repeating it. Tempting Chanyeol who looked around once, his eyebrows twitching, his nose crunching as if every single time these words were repeated, he felt physical pain. Baekhyun shook him again and he looked back at him.

 

"Get out. Get out while you still can," he said, squeezing his arms before letting go. He gulped down the hesitation and the dread. "I’ll do it. Just get out."

 

Chanyeol looked at him for a short moment. Baekhyun had never see this expression on him before. Pain. Maybe fear. He wasn’t sure, but he didn’t like it. He preferred the smugness or the amusement or even the haughtiness to this. 

 

Baekhyun nodded once, assuring the other about his own words. Chanyeol parted his lips before closing them again. He stepped back, looked around. The chants had turned to snarls and sizzles. That same word. He looked at Baekhyun once before sidestepping him and walking away. 

 

The trees’ white, blank eyes followed him and Baekhyun followed their sightline, looking at Chanyeol as he ran between the trees, right from where they had come from. His hands were pressed against his ears. Baekhyun knew that wouldn’t help drown out the voices.

 

But now, he knew. He knew why Chanyeol treated him this way. He knew he reminded Baekhyun of what he’d never be. What he was working so hard to look like again.

 

He clenched his hands into tight fists and looked at the knife still planted into the tree, then at the bag at his feet, and back at the tree again. They were still laughing, still talking, dozens of them, directed at Baekhyun now.

 

He stepped forward and grabbed the knife. He had learned to ignore it and wait until it went away. Baekhyun had survived human monsters and it wasn’t dead people turned into trees that would bring him down to his knees and make him lose his sanity.

 

Jaw clenched tight enough for his teeth to hurt, Baekhyun closed his ears off to all the voices and never once looked away from where he was doing his hardest to carve the rest of the bark stripe out. He focused on the pain. He focused on the task, on the trail of the brown veins stretched over the white expanse bark had once covered. Tiny details. Focusing on tiny details helped ignore it all. Baekhyun had learned.

 

Chanyeol had done most of the work already. It didn’t take long for him to stab the entire length of the blade between the bark and the white surfaced underneath to separate them. It gave in with a loud crack and an even louder wail from the tree and Baekhyun gripped it in his hand, the harsh dryness of it digging into his palm as he pulled as hard as he could. It peeled away in two different pieces. Baekhyun was breathless by the time he threw them into the bag.

 

He threw the knife along with the bark and then grabbed the bag. It wasn’t a lot but it was definitely better than nothing. There were several pieces. The voices and the laughter around him had turned into whispers and that was worse. If Baekhyun spent another minute here, he would go crazy. Minutes didn’t exist here.

 

He tied the bag messily so the bark wouldn’t stumble out of it before running right where Chanyeol had disappeared without a single glance behind him.

 

Snickers and mockeries followed him. Baekhyun poured all his focus into remembering the path out of the forest, running between trees, jumping over roots, and keeping an eye around him, just in case. He had the bark. He had done it and he had to get out now. That was the last step.

 

Soon, he caught a glimmer of silver and ran harder towards it. Chanyeol was pacing right outside of the forest. Baekhyun quickened his pace, ignored it all, breached through the row of trees that delimited the entrance of the forest.

 

Chanyeol turned to him as soon as he emerged from the woods. Baekhyun stood there, catching his breath, closing his eyes and leaning forward a little. His stomach hurt a bit. Both because he had been running and because tension and anxiety had been stirring his guts since the moment the very first white, hole-like pair of eyes had blinked at him.

 

He was outside. He had done it. He had survived. He had been able to ignore it. And it was all thanks to the years of practice high school inflected on him forcefully.

 

He gulped down the bitter thought and opened his eyes again. Chanyeol was standing in front of him, looking at him. No smile. No smugness, no mockery. Just the plain gleams hidden on his freckles— on his scales. 

 

Baekhyun held the bag out to him. The bark rattled inside, along with the knife. Chanyeol looked down at it for a short moment before looking back into Baekhyun’s eyes. 

 

Baekhyun felt like he was seeing Chanyeol for the first time. Like a child. With his ruffled, messy hair, his wide eyes, the hesitancy on his features. The way he had covered his ears with his hands as he ran away from the pain.

 

He grabbed the bag from Baekhyun. His claws grazed Baekhyun’s knuckles. They didn’t feel as sharp as they usually did. They didn’t scratch, didn’t scare.

 

"Thank you," he muttered, voice lone now that there was no cacophonous chant to cover it up, but still drowned out. Maybe by himself.

 

Baekhyun shook his head. He couldn’t talk around the lump in his throat. He let his hand fall back against his side. 

 

Chanyeol turned away from him and started walking. His pace was much slower than usual. He looked less intimidating than usual, less strong, less distanced. Less monstrous than Baekhyun had tried convincing himself that he was. More human. Much more human.

 

Baekhyun caught up to him in no time. They walked side by side, remained closer to each other than before.


	7. Chapter Six

Silence was starting to become a regular companion on their journey but Baekhyun wasn’t sure whether its presence was wanted or not. 

 

They had walked for a while, away from the Wailing Forest and its tricky trees, but it wasn’t really enough for Baekhyun to forget the discomfort and the uneasiness that had prickled him with each second spent in that place. The same sensation still lingered on but now, it was for a completely different reason. 

 

Chanyeol hadn’t uttered a single word to him after thanking him at the exit of the forest. Usually, Baekhyun wouldn’t mind. He would even be grateful that Chanyeol chose to keep quiet instead of bickering with him and possibly upsetting him. But usually, Chanyeol was’t quiet because of such a sensitive happening. Usually, Chanyeol didn’t look so vulnerable, locked up in his own silence as he walked beside Baekhyun, willing to keep him near but refusing to let him in. Not allowing him to understand. 

 

Baekhyun didn’t even know why he cared. Maybe because he knew now, that Chanyeol was nothing but human under the thick, blue layers of his skin.

 

They had decided to stop for the night a while ago, or least Chanyeol had looked at him, then dropped his bag to the ground to let him know he wanted to stop. Baekhyun had draped his blanket over the floor and Chanyeol had put on the fire on his own this time, without making Baekhyun struggle for it. It was nice. Too nice. Baekhyun didn’t like the fact that Chanyeol was possibly acting this way just because he felt ashamed of what the wailing trees had revealed or because he felt like he owed Baekhyun something for having finished the job off for him.

 

He wasn’t even sure whether that was the reason behind Chanyeol’s silence or not but if it was, Baekhyun didn’t like it. He should like it. Chanyeol should definitely at least be grateful to him for what he had done. He liked Chanyeol better when they were bickering, childishly, uselessly.

 

The ground spread under his blanket felt more comfortable than it had last night. Chanyeol was closer to him now, he had draped his blanket on the other side of the fire again but he couldn’t stretch his legs towards it now, they would cross over the fire and possibly reach Baekhyun. He glanced at Chanyeol. He didn’t look particularly comfortable either. He was sitting cross legged, playing with the tinfoil of a sandwich he had eaten along with Baekhyun. He hadn’t curled it into a ball this time but instead, he was ripping it into thin stripes.

 

And Baekhyun who usually preferred silence over conversation and hushed noise, couldn’t stand it anymore.

 

"Was the bark enough?" he asked, hesitant but voice loud enough to make sure Chanyeol would hear him. Chanyeol stopped ripping the tinfoil and looked at him. Baekhyun cleared his throat. "I took in as much as I could. I didn’t want to stay there alone for much longer."

 

He also had wanted to find Chanyeol as soon as possible to make sure he was alright but it didn’t feel right to say that out loud. Chanyeol was his key to go back to the Above. He couldn’t lose him. 

 

"It’s okay," Chanyeol said, crumbling the many tinfoil stripes into one big, irregular ball. "It’s enough."

 

Baekhyun nodded. He stretched his arms out towards the fire to warm up his hands even if he didn’t really feel cold. The only thing he could sense on an almost physical level was how awkward this situation was. It didn’t feel right. Chanyeol didn’t even look blank. His scales didn’t even gleam which was a stupid thought because they only gleamed when the light caressed them the right way but Baekhyun couldn’t help but think that Chanyeol seemed tired. Let down. Vulnerable and upset. 

 

Baekhyun shouldn’t care. But it made him feel uncomfortable. This was too different. Maybe if they talked it out, Chanyeol would at least look at him. Granted, Chanyeol didn’t usually pay much attention to him anyway, right now it felt like it was because he was too ashamed to look at Baekhyun. There was nothing odd about that either, Baekhyun would feel exposed if the trees had chosen to analyze his deepest thoughts and reactions too. He still didn’t know how _trees_ could figure out so many things but what he knew was that the feeling of being exposed and humiliated wasn’t a pleasant one.

 

He knew that better than anyone. He took a deep breath in, straightened his posture, pulled his hands away from the fire and gathered them on his lap instead.

 

"You know, I understand you," he eventually blurted out, words meshed together, as though if Baekhyun didn’t push them out now, they wouldn’t gather the courage to peek out at Chanyeol themselves. 

 

Chanyeol looked at him again. One of his black, sharp claws was planted on the tinfoil ball. He said nothing, just looked at Baekhyun who felt his gaze sting his face a little, as if it was trying to pierce right through his skin. Or maybe it was because he still wasn’t used to looking into red eyes.

 

"I mean," he started, before stopping for a bit. He felt the urge to explain himself from the way Chanyeol was looking at him. He had never been good with words. But he had to try. "The way you treat me. I can understand. It must be awful to be here." He motioned around him hastily. "Especially after living your life as someone who," he gesture with his hand again, "used his appearance for—"

 

"How do you know about that?" Chanyeol cut him off.

 

Two of his claws were planted in the tinfoil now. Baekhyun parted his lips to answer but no word came out. He wasn’t supposed to know that. Chanyeol’s gaze on him stung a bit more before he looked away and down to the small silver ball he was crushing in his palm even more.

 

"Of course, Jongdae told you," he muttered, voice cracking as much as the fire did between them. "That fucking asshole can’t keep his mouth shut."

 

"I’m sorry," Baekhyun instantly said.

 

He was aware that Jongdae and Chanyeol were close and he didn’t want to hinder their friendship in any way. Especially not because _he_ couldn’t keep his mouth shut. 

 

Chanyeol threw the tinfoil in front of him, it rolled toward the fire but didn’t breach into it. Baekhyun felt like that small silver ball, rolling towards the flames once and remaining close to it, enough to feel the uncomfortable heat but unable to pull himself away.

 

"I’m sorry," he repeated with more urgency. He was supposed to make Chanyeol feel better, not worsen things. "I didn’t mean to invade your privacy or anything. I didn’t mean to upset you either. I just wanted you to know that you’re not that bad."

 

His words were almost meshed together from the hastiness with which they were pushed out of his mouth, quickly so Chanyeol would listen and understand that Baekhyun really didn’t want to upset him or hurt him or humiliate him further.

 

And when he thought about it, Chanyeol really wasn’t that bad. He didn’t look as horrendous as most creatures Baekhyun had encountered. He had no weird limb, no overly disturbing features, he even looked the most human out of anyone Baekhyun had seen, Jongdae included. Chanyeol probably thought he was much more horrible than he actually was. His behavior was much more unpleasant than his appearance.

 

Chanyeol didn’t seem to share the same opinion, however. He wasn’t looking at Baekhyun anymore but he was glaring right into the fire. It should’ve been a funny sight. Crimson eyes glaring right into orangey flames, as if to mock them for paling against their own brighter, deeper color. But it wasn’t funny. Because had only worsened it and Chanyeol looked upset and angry and he should really learn to keep his mouth shut if all he could say were things to deteriorate the situation he was already trapped in.

 

Why would he even say that? He bit into his lower lip, looked away from Chanyeol and right into the flames instead. The heat stung his eyes the slightest bit but it was still better than looking at the discontentment he had spread over Chanyeol’s features on his own. Why did he even say that? Chanyeol didn’t care about his opinion, didn’t need need his reassuring, and Baekhyun couldn’t even understand him. How could he even think for one second that he would understand what living in a world full of monster for years after dying would feel like? He had been here for merely a few days. It was nothing compared to what Chanyeol had been through.

 

With a sudden push and curses flooding his own mind, Baekhyun spoke out. "I’m sorry." The urgency was still here, for a completely different reason. Baekhyun hated when his words stumbled all over each other. It made him feel stupid. He had been stupid. "I’m just stupid. Sorry. Forget what I said."

 

He stubbornly stared into the fire. He hated this place. He hated how standing up and walking off would be useless because there was nothing but skinny trees around them and unless he ran for a long time, Chanyeol would still be able to see him. He hated how he couldn’t escape this situation, how he had no room to lock himself and hide in whenever someone angrily screamed at him after a school day full of horror.

 

Bringing his legs up, he folded them against his chest, wrapping his arms around them to keep and pressing his chin against a knee. It made it a bit more difficult to breathe, his legs were pressed too tight against his chest but Baekhyun didn’t mind. He was recoiling into himself like some stupid frightened child but he didn’t mind.

 

"You always do that."

 

Chanyeol’s voice felt like a flake of ash landing on his skin. Dead and cold but the remnant of a fire that had blackened it lingering.

 

Baekhyun finally forced himself to look at him.

 

"Do what?" he questioned.

 

"You always lack confidence. You never stand behind your words," Chanyeol accused, catching Baekhyun’s gaze. Baekhyun felt like that tinfoil ball that had rolled towards the fire. Except he was locked inside the flames this time. 

 

He frowned. "I just didn’t want to upset you," he said, defensive. Was Chanyeol going to blame him for apologizing too now?

 

"You think about the consequences too much. Did you also not want to upset your bullies?" Chanyeol said and despite no trace of mockery glaring at him from his voice, Baekhyun still felt discomfort pushing his legs more into his chest, until he could swear he felt them directly crushing his heart.

 

"That’s different," he said, voice stiff. 

 

"How is that different?" Chanyeol snorted. "You never stood up to them."

 

"I did," Baekhyun snapped. He pushed his legs away from his chest and sat more properly. "I stood up to them a few times. It made things worse."

 

"So what?" Chanyeol threw at him just as he threw a hand up in exasperation. Baekhyun had no idea how this had turned against him again. It wasn’t pleasant. "You should’ve tried harder. You should’ve asked for help. It might not have worked, it might not have resolved anything, but at least you would’ve tried. You should’ve tried everything to enjoy your life, Baekhyun."

 

And Baekhyun understood. He knew exactly what Chanyeol was trying to tell him. He knew that Chanyeol was telling him that he had taken his life for granted. He knew Chanyeol was saying that as someone who had died at a relatively young age and had been stuck here for a while. He knew and yet, he couldn’t help restrain the bitter laugh that burst out of him.

 

"Enjoy my life? You’re asking me why I couldn’t enjoy my life?" he said and with each word leaving him, his voice stepped up a notch. "How do you want me to enjoy my fucking life? I was bullied at school. I have a shitty father and even my mom fucking abandoned me when I was a baby. Look at me. I ended up in a fucking world of monsters and you’re the last person who can tell me anything about enjoying life when you’ve spent yours ruining people’s life."

 

"Can you stop pitying yourself so much?" Chanyeol spat out before Baekhyun could even have the occasion to gather his breath together after the mess his own words had turned it into.

 

"I’m not pitying myself," he retorted voice completely dropping to a low groan as he threw a tiny twig into the fire. He hadn’t even noticed he had grabbed it. All he could see was the angry twist on Chanyeol’s face.

 

"You do. You always do this."

 

"I don’t," Baekhyun groaned, just to contradict the other, just because he didn’t feel nice about it, just because his voice didn’t feel as strong as it had seconds ago.

 

"There’s nothing wrong with you. There’s nothing bad about you," Chanyeol said as if he hadn’t even heard Baekhyun who wished he didn’t have to hear the other. "You just pity yourself because you have no mom and you’re bullied at school and you’re too busy pitying yourself to do anything about all of that and make yourself happy."

 

Baekhyun gathered the sleeves of his oversized hoodie into the palms of his hands and squeezed, hard. As hard as those words felt when they crashed into his mind.

 

"You kept waiting for someone to save you when that’s bullshit," Chanyeol continued, motioning around with his hands, as if he was gathering his words in them and throwing them right at Baekhyun. He felt them strike him. "No one will save you, Baekhyun. No one but yourself. So instead of waiting for someone you should’ve done something. No one but _yourself_ can save you."

 

And maybe he was right. Maybe it had been stupid of Baekhyun to sit down and pray for someone to take him out of that shithole every night instead of doing something _himself._ Maybe it had been stupid of him to even believe that there was someone up there, some down _here_ , to hear him. He should’ve done something. He shouldn’t have been so passive. He should’ve fought back despite the consequences. He should’ve asked for help. He should’ve saved himself.

 

But that didn’t change the fact that Chanyeol had no right to say this.

 

Baekhyun’s chest was heaving, he could feel his own nails digging into the palm of his hands even through the fabric of his hoodie. His breathing was too fast-paced, too saturated, irregular. But it was nothing but anger that pulled his chest up and down, filled his lungs only halfway through only to leave them dried up again.

 

Chanyeol had no right to say this. He had no right to look at him like that, as if he thought Baekhyun needed to hear this, as if he thought he was absolutely right in every single word. With that frown. That twist on his lips. The surprising lack of mockery in his eyes. He had no right to lecture Baekhyun. Not when there was nothing different about him in that matter.

 

"Maybe you’re the one pitying yourself more than me," Baekhyun spat out, his hands trembling, his fists clenching even more to hide it. Chanyeol flinched. Barely. But noticeably. Enough for Baekhyun to let honesty sizzle out through his lips. "Look at you going to such extremes just because you think you’re a horror to look at." He waved a hand between them, half mimicking Chanyeol himself and half because he was just as worked up as the other. "You pity yourself, Chanyeol. There’s nothing monstrous about you besides your shitty behavior. You make yourself a monster, not your appearance."

 

As Chanyeol’s expression crumbled down, so did the impetus anger had kicked Baekhyun with. 

 

Chanyeol’s frown slackened until nothing but a faint pull between his eyebrows remained, much weaker. His body, on the other hand, seemed much tenser than earlier. His hands had dropped to his lap where he had tightened them into fists. He didn’t look away from Baekhyun. He didn’t look angry. Baekhyun didn’t want to put a word to this. The blue of his skin was much duller, letting the emotions locked underneath bleed through.

 

Baekhyun felt it again. That overwhelming urge to apologize and take everything back. He swallowed it down, clenched his jaw tight, bit into the inside of his cheek to keep it all in. That was exactly what Chanyeol had reproached him. 

 

In a blur of movements, he laid on his blanket and messily pulled his second one up until his ears, turning so his back would be facing Chanyeol. He didn’t want to continue this. It was childish, probably made him look ridiculous, but he didn’t want to continue. They had been honest enough with each other for tonight.

 

It was a relief when Chanyeol said nothing anymore, as if he shared the same decision. Baekhyun heard the rustling of blankets, blended in with the crackling of the fire.

 

He didn’t hear Chanyeol breathe at all until he fell asleep, much later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was with a startle that Baekhyun awakened.

 

His eyes snapped opened and for a short moment, he couldn’t distinguish anything around him. He blinked a few times, heard his name hissed with urgency, and then managed to make up Chanyeol’s red eyes hovering above him.

 

"Wake up," he whispered just as harshly as his hand was shaking Baekhyun’s shoulders.

 

"What?" Baekhyun slurred as he sat up, looking around. Chanyeol pulled away just in time to avoid their heads colliding. "What’s wrong?"

 

That was when he heard it. A loud screech that sounded much too loud for it to be reassuring. It was more of a rumble than a screech, the same sound emitted by a tree crashing on the ground, its trunk cut through and then ripped as it ascended. Baekhyun felt the rumble reverberate in his chest.

 

"The monsters in the Wailing Forest," Chanyeol said quickly as he got up to his feet and ripped the blanket away from Baekhyun. The wind licked up Baekhyun’s body but he couldn’t pay attention to it when Chanyeol looked so agitated. "The ones that we turn into after spending enough time here. The mad ones."

 

Baekhyun finally scrambled up to his feet when Chanyeol tugged at the blanket under his body.

 

"But we’re far from the Forest," was all he could say as he stood there, his body idle, still left in the slumber he had been disturbed from violently.

 

"They can leave the forest, Baekhyun. They’re not stuck there."

 

No sooner than the end of his sentence, a pair of rumbly groans rose again, even louder than the previous one. Chanyeol froze for a fleeting moment before shoving the blankets into Baekhyun’s backpack. His own was already ready, laying close.

 

Baekhyun remembered encountering one of those monsters in the town. It had been running around, chased by the skeleton soldiers, and it had looked terrible, gigantic, and utterly inhuman. As if it had lost all ability to think and was nothing but the coil of a monster anymore.

 

"Don’t just stand there! We have to leave," Chanyeol urged him as he finally looked back at Baekhyun again.

 

His eyes were wider than usual, his silver hair a mess. He looked scared. Chanyeol had never once looked scared or hesitant, or even urgent. Baekhyun kickstarted his mind into proper functioning by sharply nodding his head once. He stepped to Chanyeol and reached with a trembling hand to grab the backpack from him. Before he could even properly take it from the other, the rumble echoed behind them again. It sounded like a roar now.

 

The backpack fell between them. Baekhyun looked up Chanyeol. He didn’t meet his eyes. Chanyeol was looking somewhere over Baekhyun’s shoulder, frozen. Baekhyun swallowed down the apprehension and turned to throw a look over his shoulder. 

 

There, a few meters away from them five of those bear-like monsters. The sight was disrupted by the darkness and the skinny trees planted all over the forest but Baekhyun could see their massive, fury bodies. He could even see their green eyes glowing like colored, toxic particles of dust hanging in the air. His gaze met two of those green dots. Baekhyun saw them widening before another roar ripped through the air and the monsters started running towards them.

 

"Grab your bag and run," Chanyeol instantly called out as he leaned to grab his backpack.

 

With trembling hands, Baekhyun grabbed his own, hoisting it on his shoulders while kicking off into a run alongside Chanyeol. He threw a glance over his shoulder. They were being followed. 

 

He looked back in front of him again and stuck his gaze to the back of Chanyeol’s head. He was running a small distance away. He had longer legs. Baekhyun felt his own legs shaking even as if he put his entire strength into them to run as fast as possible, enough for him to already feel his calves tightening. A roar burst behind them, followed by another. Baekhyun lost his footing, startled, but caught himself before he could crash on the ground and continued running.

 

The trees were thin but that didn’t make the forest easier to navigate through. Baekhyun zigzagged through them as much as he could but swerving from side to side was difficult when he was running and carrying a bag that kept sliding down his shoulders because he hadn’t had the time to wear it properly yet. But he had to. He had to run and he had to keep an eye on Chanyeol who, despite throwing glances at him over his shoulder from time to time, didn’t slow down and kept running ahead of him. His chest was burning. As much as his hands were after he had accidentally crashed them against the trees that he couldn’t properly avoid. 

 

A roar threatened him from behind. Or three. They all seemed to have the same voice that blended together into sounds longer than it should be possible. Baekhyun kept his gaze forward. He didn’t look. He shouldn’t look. His stomach was swirling around but he could barely even feel it, as if it happened out of his own body. The breath his lungs were desperately trying to suck in through his dry, parted lips was cold. But there was no weather in the Cave. It was his own fear glaciating the air around him.

 

"Keep running!" Chanyeol called from in front of him but his voice sounded distant, he was even further away from Baekhyun.

 

His legs were burning. Another rumble mocked him from behind. Baekhyun felt it pierce through the air and physically push him forward, making him force on his legs to go faster, fast enough to avoid getting eaten by a stupid mindless monster. He felt heavy. He was heaving. His legs threatened to rip off his body and continue running while leaving the rest of him behind. He forced himself to run, swerving around a tree, and then another.

 

He couldn’t hear anything but his own wild breath and the echo of his own footsteps. Or maybe it wasn’t his own. Maybe they were getting closer. Terror gripped his chin tight, clenched the rest of his body in its claws, preventing him from turning and looking. Just throwing a glance. Just in case.

 

He turned his head a little, biting his lip when his hand crashed against a tree again, but not turning back forward. His legs hurt. They were behind. Running. Big masses swerving through the trees and pushing some of them with their gigantic furry hands. The trees were much thicker than earlier, they had been running for a while, but they still yielded easily to the monsters’ strength and ripped off their roots.

 

Baekhyun quickly looked in front of him again. It wasn’t quick enough for him to see the crooked root bulging out of the ground.

 

His feet got caught on it and he smashed to the ground, pain flaming up his feet and hooking it to the root. He groaned when his chin hit the ground, the gooey leaves melting under his face and hands, the bag on his back digging into his spine heavily. He threw an urgent glance over his shoulder. They were running, boisterous footsteps and overbearing screechy roars. Baekhyun parted his lips in a shivery breath, his wide eyes stuck to the forms hurriedly cutting towards him.

 

His hands slid on the gooey ground, pain screeching in his foot whenever he tried to move his leg. They were running towards him. Loud. Not louder than the panic screaming in his head restlessly, ordering him to get and run and escape but he couldn’t because his foot hurt. He fumbled around until he was on his knees, ankle protesting with a violent surge of pain. He couldn’t look away. His gaze was locked in two green flashing dots. Rapidly approaching. Cold.

 

Iciness grabbed his hand and Baekhyun snapped his gaze ahead of him, crimson pouring over him as Chanyeol pulled him up to his feet. Without a word, he pulled Baekhyun forward and agony took over more of his body with each time he pressed his foot down but Baekhyun continued running, focusing on the sink of Chanyeol’s claws against the back of his hand to keep himself grounded.

 

He didn’t look behind him anymore. Chanyeol didn’t either. It was more difficult to maneuver through the forest while holding Chanyeol’s hand. Baekhyun didn’t let go, squeezing hard. He could’ve been stuck there, on the ground, crushed by those monsters, but Chanyeol had ran back to him and pulled him up. He continued pulling Baekhyun up each time the pain in his foot was too much and his leg gave out a little.

 

The trees around them were thickening, trunks growing larger the more they headed forward. Baekhyun tripped and let out a pained groan. It felt like someone was slicing through his ankle. Chanyeol pulled him closer and continued running, supporting most of Baekhyun’s weight even if it considerably slowed them down.

 

All of a sudden, Chanyeol pulled him to run off to the left instead of as straight forward as possible. The sound of twigs cracking and gooey leaves bursting under their feet didn’t drown out the roars behind them. They were fainter. Just a little. Or maybe that was what Baekhyun hoped.

 

He almost slipped when Chanyeol pulled him to the side again, against a tree, and then everything stopped. The bat strapped to Chanyeol’s bag clunked against the tree as he threw himself back against it, pulling Baekhyun against him. The pain in his ankle was numbed by the realization that they weren’t running anymore while footsteps and roars could still very well be heard advancing towards them.

 

"Why aren’t we running?" he hissed, looking up at Chanyeol.

 

He pulled Baekhyun back against his chest, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and locking him in. It wasn’t necessary. Baekhyun would, in no way, move around too much at the risk of getting caught.

 

"We can’t run forever. We can’t outrun them. Not when there’s so many of them," Chanyeol replied and he didn’t sound particularly shaken up but the urgency was still lying underneath his voice.

 

Baekhyun’s stomach churned.

 

"They’ll find us." He shook his head. Pain knocked against his anklebone sharply. He put his whole weight on his other leg.

 

"They won’t," Chanyeol said, stopping for a moment. Baekhyun caught his adam’s apple bobbing down and then up again. "They’re not animals. Just monsters. They don’t have a predator’s hearing or smelling ability. They won’t hear or see us if we hide well," he said and it sounded like a warning, emphasized by a pointed look.

 

Baekhyun swallowed down and parted his lips again. He could only drag enough air into his body through his mouth. And it wasn’t even actually enough. His chest heaved against Chanyeol’s and he looked down and away from his eyes, dropping his gaze lower. His hoodie was loose around his neck, worn out. He had a green, light blue scale on the patch of skin right between his collarbones. Baekhyun took a long, deep breath in. He was still panting afterwards.

 

Chanyeol wasn’t. He didn’t look as exhausted. He never did. Baekhyun’s body felt heavy. They had probably slept for less than a few hours. Not enough. He was tired. He leaned more of his bodyweight against Chanyeol, pressed his forehead against Chanyeol’s chest for a beat when his head pounded once. There was no heartbeat, no vibrations. He pulled away again, their bodies still stuck together because Chanyeol was holding him tight.

 

The footsteps stopped. Baekhyun forced himself not to look behind the tree. Chanyeol seemed to press himself back against it further. They heard groans, bestial sounds for a few seconds. There was no seconds here. Baekhyun still counted them in his head. He could hear tension puling through his whole body, stiffening it. Chanyeol remained silent. He had no heart but Baekhyun felt his own heartbeat was fast and boisterous enough for the both of them.

 

A roar arose near them suddenly, startling Baekhyun. Chanyeol tightened his hold around him, a warning, a threat, or maybe just a comfort. Footsteps followed, stomping again and again. Away from them. The monsters were walking away from them, their bestial sounds growing fainter. They remained idle against the tree. Baekhyun cut his own breath off to listen better after a while. The noise died down.

 

Chanyeol took a deep breath in, his chest puffing up against Baekhyun’s as he pushed his head back against the tree and closed his eyes. He didn’t need to breathe. He looked human, at that exact moment. His eyes were still crimson when he opened them and met Baekhyun’s gaze. It was growing to be a comforting color. He didn’t know why. They were always bright in the dark, Baekhyun couldn’t possibly loose them. He should wish he could. Oddly, he didn’t.

 

He felt Chanyeol’s arms slackening around his shoulders and he stepped back. Pain shot up from the tip of his toes to his entire leg and he twisted his face, bitting onto his lip hard to contain any kind of noise. He didn’t want them to hear and come back.

 

Something grabbed onto his arm and Baekhyun put his entire weight on his other leg again. 

 

"Are you alright?" Chanyeol asked when Baekhyun opened his eyes. 

 

He was holding onto Baekhyun’s arm. It was a relief. Baekhyun felt like he could fall were he to carry his whole weight on his own after running for so long on a possibly sprained ankle.

 

"My ankle hurts a bit," Baekhyun said even if it was obvious that it was much more than _a bit._

 

Chanyeol glanced down at it and then let go of him. Baekhyun was proud of himself for not crumbling down. His legs were shaking. He wasn’t sure whether it was from the exertion or just a remnant of the fear.

 

"Can you walk? We shouldn’t linger here for too long. They might go back on their steps if they don’t find us."

 

Baekhyun pressed his lips together and nodded. He had to do it. Chanyeol nodded at him once, giving him an insistent look afterwards. It took Baekhyun a short moment to understand what he was trying to say.

 

He hesitated a bit before stepping forward, his good, left foot first. As soon as he stepped on his other foot, he froze and twisted his features. It was still painful, even more than earlier now that he had no adrenaline and panic to numb the sensation.

 

Glancing at Chanyeol, Baekhyun braced himself for a snort, a smug smile, or anything else he was used to. It never came. Instead, Chanyeol was frowning as he studied Baekhyun’s foot. He kept his foot hovering over the ground a little. 

 

"I’ll piggyback you," Chanyeol suddenly announced.

 

"I can walk," Baekhyun reflexively countered.

 

"You can’t. You’ll slow us down," Chanyeol said as he slid his backpack of the shoulders. "You’ll have to cary both our bags. Is that okay?"

 

Baekhyun parted his lips but the words died down on his tongue. He wanted to refuse. Especially after what Chanyeol said about doing things for himself. But he was right. Baekhyun couldn’t walk. He would slow them down too much, they couldn’t risk that until they got far away from the forest enough.

 

He nodded begrudgingly. Chanyeol sighed out before loosening the straps of his bag, adding more length to them. He then stepped closer to Baekhyun and helped him put the bag on right over his own. It was heavy. Baekhyun had to slouch forward a little to keep his balance and he felt the bat on Chanyeol’s bag thudding against the back of his thigh.

 

Without any other word, Chanyeol then turned around and crouched down, presenting his back to Baekhyun who hesitated before jumping forward on one foot and holding onto Chanyeol’s shoulders. He felt clawed hands holding onto his thighs before Chanyeol pushed up to stand back up. He staggered back for a second and Baekhyun wrapped his arm around his neck properly. he saw his life flashing before his eyes once before Chanyeol steadied himself.

 

Then, without even knowing why, Baekhyun let out a small, quiet snicker.

 

Chanyeol turned to look at him over his shoulder. He probably couldn’t even see Baekhyun but the latter saw the lack of frown or offense on his features.

 

"You’re heavy," was all he said.

 

Baekhyun snorted. "I guess you’re not some kind of Blue Hulk," he muttered, making sure to put enough lightheartedness into his voice so Chanyeol wouldn’t think it was an attack.

 

He, at least, hoped Chanyeol wouldn’t think so. He didn’t how he could even find that small intention to joke around with the other in himself. It must be the effect of a sudden drop of adrenaline.

 

"The Hulk isn’t even your favorite character," Chanyeol huffed as he started walking.

 

"He isn’t," was all Baekhyun said.

 

The bags were heavy on his back but Chanyeol must feel it more than he did. He wasn’t even sure why Chanyeol had offered this without any prominent trace of irritation. He wasn’t even sure why Chanyeol had, technically, saved him after explicitly telling him that no one would ever save him besides himself.

 

Not that Chanyeol had saved him. Baekhyun would’ve gotten on his feet on his own. It would’ve taken more time, a nearer death experience, but he would’ve done it.

 

It wasn’t comfortable to be carried this way. Baekhyun didn’t feel nice about it. It would be more comfortable if he rested his head against the back of Chanyeol’s or slid down a little to rest against his shoulder. He didn’t.

 

Despite the harsh wording, Chanyeol had been right.

 

He promised himself right there that this would be the last time anyone would have to save him. He would learn to do it himself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"We could break in and spend the night there safely," Chanyeol suggested what felt like hours later but probably wasn’t.

 

Baekhyun, who had been halfway between dozing off on the other’s back and shaking his head awake, looked in front of them. There was a small house up on a hill, amidst the thick trees of the forest, a few meters away. It didn’t look like a proper home, just some abandoned house that was dark and dirtied, but it was a closed space. Baekhyun hadn’t been in one of those in what felt like a century now. 

 

"We haven’t slept a lot," Chanyeol added when Baekhyun remained silent, hoisting him up his back with a jump.

 

He had been carrying Baekhyun for a while. He hadn’t complained once and they had even shared small conversation over video games. Baekhyun was surprised they were _talking_ after their last argument but he didn’t stop himself from engaging into it either. Baekhyun quite appreciated Chanyeol when he was tame. He was pretty sure Chanyeol appreciated him more when he was _calm_ too. Maybe that was why they hadn’t argued again. Maybe they had discharged all the negativity. For now.

 

Putting all that to the back of his mind, he took another look at the house. There was no light through the window as far as he could see. But it didn’t look unoccupied either, it wasn’t as ruined as it could be in a forest.

 

"We’re not going to break into someone’s house, Chanyeol," he settled on saying almost regretfully.

 

He missed sleeping in a bed and it wasn’t cold but the nighttime wind wasn’t entirely comfortable either. 

 

Without saying anything, Chanyeol resumed walking. Baekhyun could almost feel him rolling his eyes.

 

Silence settled over them for a while but Baekhyun found that he didn’t mind. It wasn’t a thick, rigid kind of tension. Just silence. Quietude. 

 

After a while, Baekhyun’s back was starting to hurt and hanging onto someone like that was growing too uncomfortable.

 

"Aren’t you tired?" he tried. "I can walk now."

 

"You probably can’t," Chanyeol said and Baekhyun frowned, about to protest, but Chanyeol spoke again before he could. "But I do feel a bit tired. You’re quite heavier than you look."

 

"It’s the bags," Baekhyun snorted. 

 

"Sure," Chanyeol mimicked his tone. He stopped walking and looked around. "I think we could settle here until morning. We probably don’t have much time left but resting will still do us good."

 

"Let me down," Baekhyun simply said as some form of agreement.

 

Chanyeol crouched down so he could get off his back and Baekhyun was careful not to put pressure on his right foot. He held onto Chanyeol’s shoulder to steady himself and the latter only stood back up when Baekhyun let go.

 

He looked around. The landscape wasn’t much different than usual. The trees were just thicker than the last forest. They were far enough from the monsters. 

 

Chanyeol turned to him and Baekhyun slid off one of the bags from his shoulders, giving it to him. His own backpack followed, crashing on the ground and finally freeing Baekhyun’s back from the discomfort and the pressure. He leaned forward a little to stretch his spine and let out a groan. It was a wonder Chanyeol had carried him _and_ the two bags for so long without complaining. Perks of being dead, Baekhyun supposed.

 

They spread their respective sheets on the ground, Baekhyun almost falling off while doing it since he could stand on just one of his legs and Chanyeol very indiscreetly laughing at him. It was a kind of choked laugh, not a snort but not a full streak either, just the beginning of it. Baekhyun preferred this kind of laugh but he still glared at Chanyeol halfheartedly for making fun of him.

 

Baekhyun dropped down on the blanket as Chanyeol did the same and instantly got to putting on a fire. Baekhyun leaned to take a look at his ankle, raising the hem of his cuffed jeans and wincing at the sight. It was only faint but the area around his anklebone was bruised, pigmented in greenish blue. He pressed a finger against it lightly and pain pulsed under his skin. He sighed. At least it wasn’t broken, probably just sprained. Hopefully not enough for him to be unable to properly walk for days.

 

The fire sparked in front of him and his skin was painted an orangey hue before Baekhyun patted the cuff of his jeans over the bruise again and looked at the flames. It was a much smaller fire than  usual, it probably wouldn’t last more than an hour in human time but it was still good enough for now. 

 

"Does it still hurt?" Chanyeol asked suddenly.

 

Baekhyun looked at him. He wasn’t sure whether the concern he saw on his face was just a trick of the flames.

 

"A little," he shrugged. "But it’s alright as long as I don’t put pressure on it, I think."

 

Chanyeol pursed his lips, his gaze dropping to Baekhyun’s foot even if the bruise was concealed now. Then, he dragged his bag towards him again and rummaged inside. Baekhyun watched him curiously, the feeling merely growing when Chanyeol pulled out several closed, small containers and then a bigger one. 

 

He pulled off the lid of that one first. It was empty but the others weren’t. Baekhyun was puzzled as each lid was pulled open by blue fingers to reveal some kind of herbs or powder each time. Chanyeol took a bit of all four different ingredients that Baekhyun couldn’t recognize and dumped them in the empty container. Baekhyun didn’t ask what he was doing, just observed the other turn  to look around him and then stretch all the way to his left to grab a considerably big stone. He used it to crush the mixture of herbs and dust for a short while, the sound of rock crunching leaves loud in the silence of the forest until he stopped and rummaged through his bag. 

 

This time, he pulled a bottle of water out and Baekhyun, for the first time that day, realized how dry his mouth felt. He hadn’t drank a single sip the whole day. As if he could sense it, or maybe just remembered now that Baekhyun needed water, Chanyeol passed him the bottle after pouring a bit of it in the mixture.

 

Baekhyun gulped down half of it by the time Chanyeol was done with whatever he was doing. Baekhyun kept the water by his side, unwilling to part from that exquisite liquid he now knew the value of more than ever. He half expected Chanyeol to ask back for it but he didn’t. Instead, he held out the container with the weird mixture to Baekhyun.

 

"Apply this on your ankle," was the only explanation he gave him.

 

Baekhyun gave the weird brown, greenish mixture a suspicious look. 

 

"What’s that?"

 

"It’s to help with the pain," he answered, shaking the container to urge Baekhyun to grab it.

 

Baekhyun took it and stared at it a little more. There were pieces of crushed leaves and it looked sandy at the same time.

 

"How do you know it’s going to work?" he couldn’t help but question.

 

"Just because I’m dead, it doesn’t mean I can’t get injured and feel pain. Trust me, it works," Chanyeol said with only a small hint of exasperation in his dull gaze.

 

He motioned Baekhyun to get on with it again and quietly, Baekhyun pulled the cuff of his jeans up again. With a disgusted wince, he planted his fingers into the mixture and gathered some. It was of a rather thick, sandy consistency so it wasn’t that hard to safely bring it down right against his ankle bone without spilling it. It felt cold against his skin but fortunately, it felt much softer as well. He spread it around his ankle with careful fingers, trying his best not to apply too much pressure on the painful spots.

 

The more he rubbed it in, the warmer his skin felt underneath. Maybe it would actually work. He wasn’t expecting any miraculous treatment but it could maybe take some of the pain away come morning. Chanyeol probably knew the best way to care for wounds. Baekhyun recalled what he had seen the night before they had started their journey.

 

The lashes, the bruises, the burn marks, and the weird purply blood-like substance in each of the cuts. All over Chanyeol’s back. Unease distracted him enough to accidentally press to hard on the bruise and he hissed quietly, pulling his hand away. He grabbed more of the mixture and slathered it on his skin. 

 

He wondered if Chanyeol’s back had gotten better. He had carried Baekhyun all the way here without any display of pain so he supposed it was the case but he couldn’t be sure. He still also didn’t know how exactly he had gotten into that state. Even if the fact that he had been back from the Queen’s side that night was an obvious hint.

 

He looked at Chanyeol once he was done, handing the counter to him over the fire. He grabbed it without looking at Baekhyun and closed the lid before shoving it into his backpack along with everything else.

 

Baekhyun wanted to ask. He was curious but also concerned. If Chanyeol’s back wasn’t healed already, he should take care of it. 

 

"I’m sorry," Chanyeol suddenly spoke before Baekhyun could gather the courage to. He snapped his gaze up to the other but didn’t meet a crimson one. Chanyeol was focused on tugging at the zipper of his bag even if it was already completely closed. "For what I said earlier."

 

Baekhyun pressed his lips together. He hadn’t expected this.

 

"It’s okay," he muttered. Chanyeol met his gaze. He looked uncomfortable. Baekhyun wondered if he had ever apologized to someone in his life. "You weren’t completely wrong," he added after a long silence.

 

Chanyeol shrugged, let silence pour in before cutting it off. 

 

"I could’ve said it when I wasn’t angry. A bit more nicely," he said, giving Baekhyun a close lipped smile that looked more like an expression of apology than anything else.

 

That was enough for Baekhyun to understand that it _was_ something Chanyeol hadn’t said just to spite him. It was what he really thought about Baekhyun.

 

It wasn’t a pleasant realization but it was definitely not as unpleasant as the knowledge that what he had said was true. Maybe Baekhyun had needed to hear it.

 

"It’s alright. Maybe I needed to hear that," Baekhyun sighed. He stretched his legs in front of him carefully before looking back at Chanyeol again. He was looking back at him this time. "I’m sorry too."

 

Chanyeol shook his head in silence. Baekhyun smiled a little at him. This might be their most civilized and normal conversation yet. After the conversation about dramas and movies. Chanyeol returned his smile with a high jolt of his lips into one that lasted a beat before his features relaxed again. It was his first inoffensive smile to Baekhyun. He might have a dimple on his left cheek. Baekhyun wasn’t sure, it could’ve been a trick of his scales and the firelight. He would have to see it again.

 

He bit his lower lip and looked down at his lap. His fingers found the short stray string at the seam of his jeans and he pulled at it to anchor himself before speaking again.

 

"I’m not going to take my words back this time, though." He glanced at Chanyeol. No frown. He looked back down as his fingers pulled on the string. "I don’t think you’re that much of a monster."

 

Chanyeol chewed on his lower lip with sharp teeth, staring at Baekhyun. He didn’t shy away this time. He met Chanyeol’s gaze right back. He wanted him to know that he was being honest.

 

"What makes you say that?" Chanyeol eventually asked.

 

He moved to sit cross legged, resting his elbows on his thighs and then supporting his chin on the palm of one hand. Baekhyun waited for him to stop fidgeting to answer.

 

 "You wouldn’t have treated my ankle if you were."

 

Nothing pushed Chanyeol to do it, after all. He could’ve just given Baekhyun the ingredients and let him take care of everything. Baekhyun liked to think that it was guilt that had pushed Chanyeol to prepare the mixture himself. He didn’t say it out loud, however.

 

He heard Chanyeol breathe out loudly, much louder than humans could. Baekhyun wondered if all the sighs and similar sounds he had heard from the other were lingering human habits rather than actual features of his. He couldn’t tell whether they were unconscious ones or not.

 

"I look like one," Chanyeol said and for the first time ever, his voice sounded much weaker than Baekhyun was used to. One of his fingers was trailing over his jaw, starting up on a patch of blue skin and then descending until his nail butted against a scale. He repeated the action over and over again. "You said it yourself."

 

Baekhyun ripped his gaze away from it and looked back into his eyes, as steady as he could. He didn’t like eye contact. He had looked into Chanyeol’s eyes during this single conversation more than he had ever looked into anyone else’s eyes lately. He wanted him to hear him, understand him.

 

"No," Baekhyun said, the firmness of his own voice startling him for a second during which he turned idle. Chanyeol said nothing. There was no negative shift in his expression. Baekhyun relaxed again. "I said it’s your behavior that’s monstrous. Not the way you look. Or the way you are, generally speaking."

 

Baekhyun wanted to add it. That it was his behavior _with Baekhyun_. Not his behavior in general, as far as he had seen. It was the way Chanyeol treated him because Baekhyun was human and _he_ wasn’t. He didn’t voice it out. Baekhyun had a hunch Chanyeol knew already.

 

Maybe that was why Chanyeol looked away after those words.

 

"Let’s sleep. We shouldn’t waste more of the night. You need the rest," he said, all the while shifting to lay down on his back, crossing his arms under his head, and closing his eyes.

 

He didn’t say anything after that. Baekhyun watched him for a short moment before mirroring him by laying down as well and pulling his second blanket over his body.

 

He closed his eyes and felt the corners of his lips tugging upwards faintly. Chanyeol hadn’t used a harsh tone on him, hadn’t mocked him, or hadn’t pushed him away in any other way. 

 

They were making progress. It was small steps, in gooey leaves and chased by ugly monsters, but at least, they were running with less of a distance separating them.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Bbaegi_) II [Curious Cat](https://curiouscat.me/Bbaegi)


	8. Chapter Seven

"How come you can actually produce electricity here?" Baekhyun asked as he carefully stepped away from Chanyeol to avoid a lump of stones baring his path.

 

His ankle was much better than last night. The odd mixture Chanyeol had prepared for him had surprisingly worked better than he had thought it would but he wasn’t entirely healed either. It still hurt if they walked for too long or if he wasn’t careful enough about where they stepped.

 

Chanyeol had offered spending the day just resting to make sure he wouldn’t be uncomfortable when walking and, despite being pleasantly surprised by the other’s considerate proposal, Baekhyun had refused. He wanted them to be done with this quickly. Not even because he wanted to part ways with Chanyeol as soon as possible — he didn’t really feel that way anymore after their civilized conversation and apologies — but the journey in itself was just tiring. Baekhyun wanted a bed. Whether he’d crash into one in the Above or in Chanyeol’s apartment didn’t matter.

 

They had settled on resuming the journey but Chanyeol had made him take many short breaks to avoid tiring his ankle out. Baekhyun was grateful, both for the breaks and because that uncomfortable, unavoidable tension between them was gone. Chanyeol didn’t act like he hated him anymore. Baekhyun didn’t either. He didn’t hate Chanyeol. On the contrary, talking with him about mundane things turned out to make this seemingly unending path towards these Electric Fields much more bearable. 

 

Especially since all their destinations were bizarre and unimaginable in this kind of world.

 

"I’m not sure," Chanyeol replied while motioning towards another lump of bigger stones carpeting their path. Baekhyun stepped on them with care, not wanting to twist his ankle again. "I guess the Almighty allows us to?"

 

"What do you mean He allows you?" Baekhyun questioned, wincing a bit when the path abruptly cut off from grass and stones to grayish sand. It was safer to walk on sand for his ankle but he knew how uncomfortable it would be if it somehow breached into his shoes.

 

Chanyeol had only told him about their new destination a while ago but he hadn’t explained anything about it. He always had this tendency of giving names and nothing else, as if he expected Baekhyun to know about it already. He had been here for a long time, after all, and probably never had to explain anything about the Cave to anyone else.

 

"He’s the one who created the monsters that are turned into our electric resources," Chanyeol shrugged, a grimace on his face as he stopped walking and raised his foot off the ground to shake it a little. 

 

Baekhyun couldn’t even feel relieved that he wasn’t the first one to be bothered by the sand when horror was the only thing breaching into him at the realization of what Chanyeol was saying. It made sense. There was no way they could import electricity from the Above to here, even through the Whistling Portals. It explained all the lampposts in the Town and in the forests and everywhere else. It was all coming from _here._ From their own resources.

 

After a short while of silence on Baekhyun’s part, Chanyeol looked at him. He seemed to make out Baekhyun’s horror on his face because he parted his lips and shook his head.

 

It took a few seconds for him to form his words. "I mean," he said, stopping, pressing his lips together before continuing. "I don’t know how to explain it. It sounds terrible, I’m aware. But it’s just really convenient for us. So we use them. And if the Almighty didn’t want us to use the Electric Fields, then He wouldn’t have made them, right?"

 

"But why would God do that?" He couldn’t understand. He had stopped thinking that God was as good and mighty as he used to think, he understood that this was Hell, that all these monsters used to be terrible people, but this all still seemed cruel to him. "Why would he turn them into literal sources of electricity?"

 

"I guess their sins had something to do with using people?" Chanyeol said, sounding unsure. "Or using things? I don’t know. It’s difficult to figure out monsters’ sins sometimes, unless you directly ask them. But no one ever ventures into the Electric Fields. It’s far from the Town, this is my first time too. Either way, those monsters are going to be used forever."

 

It was almost baffling. The way Chanyeol spoke of this so casually, gaze focused on the ground and nose scrunched but not because of shame or horror at his own words. He just seemed annoyed by the sand. 

 

And yet, Baekhyun couldn’t shame him for that. This was Chanyeol’s world, his life. His death. He was used to this. They were different. Baekhyun pulled the sleeves of his hoodie over his hands and then shoved them in the pockets at the front of the baggy clothing. He didn’t belong here.

 

"You know, my mom used to tell me how kind and merciful God was," he said through the lumps lodged in his throat, in his stomach, even in his chest. He barely even remembered her words. He barely even remembered her. "I guess it was all nothing but stupid lies. This place is terrible."

 

This made him angry. He wasn’t even sure what exactly made him angry, whether it was the fact that everything his mom told him was a lie or the fact that the Afterlife was much more terrible than he thought it should be. All he knew was that the sensation weighing down on his body, stifling him, was anything but pleasant. It was unfair. This place was too over the top, even for what it actually was. Hell.

 

He could feel Chanyeol’s gaze on him as they walked alongside each other but he didn’t look back at him. He kept his head down, both because he didn’t want the other to see how worked up he was about something that didn’t concern him and that he probably couldn’t understand, and because he could feel grains of sand digging into his heels even through his socks.

 

Baekhyun stopped walking, raised a foot and shook it to adjust the sand inside and make it more bearable, just like Chanyeol had done a while ago. However, pain clenched around his ankle and brought it back down to the sandy ground. He let out a groan of frustration. His ankle wasn’t entirely healed yet.

 

"Your mom left you when you were young, right?"

 

He snapped his gaze up at Chanyeol, wide eyes taking in the slight frown twisting his eyebrows down and the sharp teeth digging into the pale flesh of his lower lip. The lumps in his mouth and chest dropped down to his stomach. It took a blank moment for a bitter chuckle to throw them right back up to their orignal spot again.

 

"I forgot you knew everything about me," he muttered as he resumed walking, Chanyeol following along. He swallowed bitterness down. A lot of it still remained in his mouth, a permanent layer. "It makes more sense now. That you think I’m pathetic."

 

"I already told you," Chanyeol sighed. Baekhyun didn’t look at him. Sand stretched in front of them for meters. "You’re the only one pitying yourself here."

 

With a loud sigh, he turned to Chanyeol and met his crimson gaze. It almost felt like twin lasers piercing right through him, reading and understanding and seeing and knowing. Baekhyun hated how right Chanyeol was.

 

"Let’s please not have this conversation again," he asked in a small but firm voice.

 

Chanyeol looked away from him and kicked sand with the tip of his worn out shoe.

 

Grateful, Baekhyun relaxed again. He didn’t like having that conversation. He preferred listening to the white noise of his feet crushing gray sand.

 

Soon, sand filtered into grass and a much more comfortable path. And trees. Always more trees. Baekhyun was glad that at least, this wasn’t a forest. There were just a few trees planted here and there but not dense enough for this to be called a forest. 

 

Chanyeol stopped walking and they both took their shoes off to spill the sand gathered inside. Discomfort and irritation trickled out of Baekhyun with each grain falling on the grass. When he put his shoes on again, it was with a sigh of content. He looked around as they resumed walking. They hadn’t encountered any animals in a while. 

 

He swung one strap of his backpack down his shoulder to bring it in front of him, unzip it, and pull out a bottle of water. He took long sips from it, savoring the characteristic taste, or lack thereof, before holding it out to Chanyeol. He refused by shaking his head once and Baekhyun put the bottle back in his bag.

 

Chanyeol leaned down to grab a long, skinny, almost plastic-looking branch from the ground and swung it around in front of him. Baekhyun observed him pick at the ground in front of them with its tip, then drag it behind him as they walked, or occasionally whip the trees they walked past. He held a laugh in. With his frown, his long, mussed silver hair, and the press of his lips into a straight line, he looked like a child fighting with boredom and losing. 

 

Baekhyun looked around again. He wondered if they would encounter any other animals. He hoped not. They had all looked pretty disturbing so far. Maybe he should ask Chanyeol if he had ever owned a pet, if he preferred cats or dogs. He hadn’t done that yet.

 

"My parents left me too when I was young," were the words with which Chanyeol unexpectedly broke the comfortable silence between them first. Baekhyun forgot all about bored children, cats, and dogs as he looked at Chanyeol. He hit another tree with his long elastic branch. This time it was more of a graze than a whip. "So I can kind understand why you’re angry. Or how you feel about it, in general."

 

"Your parents left you too?" Baekhyun repeated and it was stupid because Chanyeol’s words were clear, that was what he had said, but Baekhyun didn’t know what else he could say. He wasn’t used to this kind of deep conversation. Hell, Baekhyun wasn’t used to _any_ kind of conversation.

 

He hadn’t expected that. This particular similarity between them, nor the fact that Chanyeol would share that part of himself with him.

 

"Both of them," he said. The long stick was dragged besides Chanyeol’s foot on the ground now, following him. "They just left me. There, on the streets, when I was a baby. A man found me." Baekhyun felt unease digging into his stomach. Being abandoned in the streets was worse, much worse. "He raised me to be a swindler, like he was."  

 

A small snap cut Chanyeol off.

 

He raised the branch, frowning at it. The tip was broken, still tied to the rest of the branch by a thin thread of bark but swinging down. Chanyeol grabbed it and easily ripped it off, letting it drop on the ground. His tone wasn’t as irate as his expression when he tried dragging the stick along on the ground again but noticed that he had to lean sideways to do it since the branch wasn’t as long anymore.

 

He didn’t seem particularly bothered by what he was saying. He didn’t even sound like he was telling his own story. Baekhyun felt much more pained listening to it than Chanyeol looked recounting it. He shoved his fists into the pockets of his hoodie again. 

 

"He died when I turned eighteen," Chanyeol continued with just as much nonchalance in the steady tone of his voice. "He wasn’t really a father, nor a brother, just someone who taught me stuff so I could bring in more money." Baekhyun looked at him when he felt his gaze on the side of his face. Chanyeol had a tight-lipped smile on. He couldn’t find it in himself to return it. "So I can understand it, the anger of not knowing why they left you."

 

Because there had to be a reason. No parents would leave their child just like that, without a reason. Whether it was a valid one or not was another matter, but there had to be a reason. Not knowing why was the worst thing about it, being unable to ask that crucial, crushing question.

 

"Do you know where they are?" Baekhyun asked softly.

 

Chanyeol shook his head firmly. "I don’t. I don’t want to know either."

 

"Why?" Baekhyun asked, puzzled. He wondered where his mother was at least once a day.

 

"If they left me when I was so young, dumped me on the streets for the cold to take me away, I don’t want to know." He threw the branch behind him without a single glance and shoved his hands into his hoodie’s pockets. Baekhyun couldn’t figure out whether this was an upset façade or if Chanyeol had really reached the point where it didn’t matter anymore. "For all I know, my mother could’ve been a prostitute who accidentally got pregnant and got rid of me after birth. That’s what I settled on. That’s what I want to think happened. It’s easier."

 

Baekhyun looked away from him and down at his feet.

 

"Knowing the reason makes it easier," he mumbled, more to himself than to Chanyeol. Maybe he should make up his own reason too and close this forever.

 

But he couldn’t. This was what defined him. Byun Baekhyun. No mother. A drunk father. No friends. 

 

Or maybe he shouldn’t let this be _all_ that defined him. That sounded difficult.

 

"Do you know?" Chanyeol asked, pulling Baekhyun out of his thoughts and leaving him disoriented. "Where your mom is," he added, probably figuring out Baekhyun had no idea what he was asking.

 

"No, I don’t," he breathed out with a long sigh. "I just know she left. And I can understand," he said, letting out a bitter sound, the chunk of a snort. "My father has probably always been like that." He glanced at Chanyeol once before focusing back on the grass he was crushing under his foot. "You know, right?"

 

He caught Chanyeol nodding from the corner of his eye, a short hum accompanying the motion. Baekhyun felt his stomach churning with the beginning of shame. He gulped it down, ignored it. Chanyeol wasn’t here to mock him. Baekhyun knew he wasn’t, now.

 

Raising his gaze up, he looked ahead of him again. He was tired. Maybe he should ask for a break soon.

 

"I can understands her," he said, instead. "Sometimes, I’m angry. Sometimes, I wish she took me with her. Sometimes, I’m angry that she didn’t and sometimes, I just hope she’s well and happy, at least."

 

"I guess that’s where we’re different," Chanyeol noted.

 

Baekhyun couldn’t keep a bitter chuckle in.

 

"I guess we do have a few common points," he said, regretful that what they shared was the lack of a proper family.

 

Chanyeol didn’t reply, didn’t even nod or hum. Baekhyun didn’t mind. Maybe he too didn’t like this topic. Baekhyun was more than happy to end it here. 

 

Despite not appreciating this topic, he couldn’t, however, deny the way talking about this to someone for the first time ever did come as a relief. Chanyeol felt closer to him now. More human. That seemed to happen every day.

 

"I’m sorry for bringing you here," Chanyeol said after a short moment of silence. Baekhyun once again looked at him in surprise. Chanyeol wasn’t looking back at him but at the ground instead. "I know it’s horrible. I know it sucks and I’ve been selfish but I just.. This is the only way and I’m truly sorry."

 

At last, he looked at Baekhyun. Only for a short second, before looking back down at his own feet. He seemed genuine and Baekhyun wasn’t sure why he was apologizing now. He wasn’t even sure he wanted Chanyeol to apologize. This had seemed like a bad thing at first, ending up in the Cave and being unable to leave at his own will, but now, Baekhyun wasn’t so sure. 

 

This wasn’t worse than the Above. No one humiliated him, no one bullied him, he didn’t go home to his father every night like an abused pet that had nowhere else to go. He even had a friend. Half of a friend. He had been treated better here than he had ever been back in the human world. It wasn’t the best, it had been rough with Chanyeol and almost unbearable at first, but now, Baekhyun couldn’t say he’d have preferred never falling into this world.

 

"It’s alright," was all he said, offering Chanyeol a smile. He looked at Baekhyun, eyebrows raised. "I just hope we’ll reach our goal."

 

He didn’t return Baekhyun’s smile but he continued looking at him, as if to decipher whether Baekhyun really meant those words or not. Maybe his eyes weren’t lasers, after all, because if he could read Baekhyun, then Chanyeol would know that he wasn’t upset.

 

But Baekhyun didn’t mind. He appreciated knowing that Chanyeol felt bad for what he had done because at last, he had still been a bit selfish about it all. 

 

He bit his lower lip in hesitation before smiling again. Chanyeol was still looking at him, silently. He must feel really bad. The blue of his skin looked sorrowful now and it didn’t make sense, Chanyeol’s skin didn’t change tones. Maybe Baekhyun just wanted him to feel that way. Maybe this could be his tiny revenge.

 

"I’ll forgive you for bringing me here if you answer my question," he said before he could change his mind, right when the grass they were walking through started gaining in density and length. It tickled his calves now, even through the fabric of his jeans.

 

Chanyeol snorted and finally looked away from Baekhyun who wasn’t ready for the small hint of relief that came with that reaction. He didn’t want Chanyeol to be too upset.

 

He looked at Baekhyun again, this time with narrowed eyes and a crooked smile dimpling his cheek into a tiny pool of blue.

 

"I liked you better when you apologized every five seconds instead of using my weak moments to your advantage," he said, tone light but the mischief in it strong enough to pull Baekhyun’s lips into a smile.

 

"Don’t lie," he countered, mimicking Chanyeol’s expression, albeit not as strongly. He gathered himself, wanting the other to realize he was being serious. "Why me? Why not someone else?"

 

He had been wondering about that for a while. Chanyeol had been watching him for a year. That was a long time. He could’ve gotten annoyed, tired, bored, and realized that Baekhyun wasn’t made for this kind of adventure at least ten times through that long period. He could’ve found someone else. 

 

Maybe Chanyeol could read those questions in his eyes because he dropped the playful smile and shrugged, looking away.

 

"Maybe I saw a bit of myself in you," he answered, not lightly, but not with anything that indicated this was a difficult confession either. Baekhyun felt something in him unclench a bit. He wasn’t a choice by default, for Chanyeol. "Maybe because I actually did want to save you. Or," he stretched his last word for a bit, looking at Baekhyun again. This time his smile wasn’t crooked but much more teasing. "Maybe because you looked easy to scare."

 

He had used that fake, rumbly, threatening monster tone again, leaning closer to Baekhyun who merely scrunched his nose. He wasn’t easy to scare. Chanyeol had just been an unexpected sight that first day, in that graveyard, with his blue skin and his red eyes and that wide, crazy smile.

 

"I liked you better when you kept calling yourself a Prince Charming as if you were desperate to be one," was all Baekhyun said, mimicking Chanyeol’s words from earlier.

 

He couldn’t keep the smile out of his voice, however. He was appeased. Maybe glad that Chanyeol had chosen him.

 

Chanyeol didn’t continue what could’ve been a childish bicker. Instead, he gave Baekhyun a genuine smile. One of those that were different and that only appeared when he talked about his favorite things from his human life.

 

"I like you better like this. I know you do too," he said, voice colored the way his skin was, deep but clear. Pleasant.

 

A bit too pleasant for Baekhyun to look at him any longer.

 

Still pleasant even as they fell into a comfortable silence and Baekhyun had nothing but a smile to offer him as an answer. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Chanyeol had called their destination the Electric Fields, Baekhyun hadn’t really thought that appellation would be quite literal.

 

He should have. After days spent in the Cave, Baekhyun should’ve learned to take everything to the literal sense and expect the unimaginable. As they stood in front of an entire field of monsters, he was once again reminded that the functioning and the contents of this world were too twisted for him to ever stop being surprised by what he encountered.

 

He could understand, now, why exactly this place was called the way it was. A few meters ahead of them, Baekhyun could make out endless rows of monsters that had a strikingly similar appearance to a Gingerbread Man. Thick arms, no fingers, equally as thick legs that were longer and disappeared right into the ground, as if rooted there. They weren’t made out of wood, however, Baekhyun couldn’t see them that well from where he stood with Chanyeol but the only wood he could see was from the crosses every single one of them looked nailed to.

 

Their arms were stretched up, held, or pinned alongside the crossbar, their legs individually thicker than the vertical plank yet stuck together along it, almost merging into a single leg before disappearing under the ground. Their heads were held down, Baekhyun had a feeling that was more of a sign of exertion than anything to do with the way they were created. He could still make out two wide dots and a thick line arched downwards. Eyes and a mouth.

 

The corpulence was the only similarity they had to any kind of Gingerbread Man Baekhyun had ever seen, in movies or just in festive packaging displayed in supermarkets. They looked dark, black, like coal, or maybe burnt plastic. 

 

Distress stirred through his entire body, forcing his hands to hide under the hem of his sleeves as his gaze jumped over each and every one of the monsters sacrificed for the use of electricity through the Cave. He couldn’t even look at all of them. There were too many of them, the field stretched further and further, far enough for him to fail at finding an ending line. 

 

He took a deep breath in, one that was constricted, as if he was the one pinned to a wooden cross and his body wasn’t his to make any decision concerning its use. He felt sick to the stomach. His backpack felt heavier than before, his tongue stuck against the back of his teeth, withered even if he had taken a sip of water right before they had reached the Fields.

 

And it was almost funny, in a bitter way. This was the place — the people — that produced the electricity alimenting the Cave and yet, the lack of light was more blatant here than anywhere else they had passed through. As if the entire place was burnt, dark, lifeless, and used.

 

He forced himself to turn to Chanyeol who had been just as silent as him until now. He couldn’t really see his expression, it was too dark, too rotten yellow in the sky, and there was no bony lamppost anywhere close to them. These beings weren’t even allowed a taste of what they spent the eternity producing.

 

Chanyeol’s eyes glowed in the dark. He wasn’t looking at Baekhyun but at the borderless field ahead of them. A field. Crops. Cultivated and used. He dug his fist into his stomach from where they was nestled in the pockets of his hoodie.

 

"What are we going to take?" he asked, voice choked, a bit restrained by the confines of his throat and the discomfort. 

 

He forced himself not to look away from Chanyeol and back at the Electric Gingerbread Men. He forced himself to visualize them in a happier context. In a happier movie. 

 

"A heart," Chanyeol said and Baekhyun was oddly relieved by how soft his voice sounded. He wasn’t unaffected. 

 

"Do they even have a heart?" Baekhyun questioned as he felt his own heart squeezing acidity into the rest of his body. It boiled under his skin, prickled him, made him feel unwanted in his own body, pushed him to turn his back and run until it stopped bubbling and he couldn’t remember these twisted, electric crops. 

 

"I guess," was all Chanyeol said before taking a step forward. It was a small one that looked ridiculous with his long legs.

 

Baekhyun followed along, the tips of his sneakers dragging on the ground and rubbing a harsh sound out of it. Not as harsh as the unease soaring in him when he finally processed Chanyeol’s words.

 

"We have to take the heart of one of them. Carve it out. Rip it. Steal it," he listed, voice growing more agitated with each word fleeing from his mouth. 

 

They were walking towards the field now and the closer they got, the sharper the frontier between the monsters and the rest of this dead world looked. Straight. Clear-cut. As if someone had measured it with a ruler and traced the exact line where they’d plant the seeds of people’s sin.

 

"I’ll do it," Chanyeol said and he was walking close to Baekhyun or maybe Baekhyun was walking close to him but either way, his voice sounded distant.

 

Baekhyun couldn’t really hear anything but the first shy soars and shrill whistles of the wind. Night was falling somewhere. Not here. Here, Baekhyun was the one falling. Stumbling down with each steady step he took towards the crucified monsters. Their second death, an incomplete one. 

 

Because it was clearer now. The more they approached them, in silence, the better Baekhyun could make out the big wooden cross, the long, rusty nails stabbing through hands and the binds clutching legs. It wasn’t gingerbread. It wasn’t anything close to it. It was nothing but black cables and wires tangled together, no knots, just defined lines that looked stuck together into a big lump with arms, legs, and a head. Black and copper where the cables were ripped and slit, as if worn-out. The two dots and the downward arch that formed eyes and lips were copper, the plastic stripped off it entirely.

 

They stopped in front of the first row, of the border. Baekhyun was infinitely relieved that they wouldn’t have to cross it. He gulped down nausea as Chanyeol let his backpack fall to the ground with a loud clutter. Baekhyun snapped his gaze to the row of monsters. No eye blinked, no mouth arched, no wire stuttered. They looked dead. They were dead. Baekhyun kept forgetting.

 

"Which one?" Chanyeol’s voice seemed to echo from beside him.

 

When Baekhyun looked at him again, he was already holding the same big kitchen knife they had used to carve out bark from the Wailing Trees. Baekhyun hadn’t noticed. It felt like he was missing part of what was happening, big chunks. Was it because he didn’t want to be here? Because he didn’t want to witness this? He didn’t. This, he didn’t want it. Maybe Chanyeol didn’t either. Maybe that was why he was asking Baekhyun.

 

But they had to.

 

"It doesn’t really matter, does it?" Baekhyun asked with a tremor in his voice.

 

Chanyeol shook his head and stepped forward, to the monster in front of him. Tiny steps again. Baekhyun felt as if each of those steps were pressing down on his chest heavily. But it wasn’t Chanyeol. Chanyeol wouldn’t do that to him. Chanyeol didn’t even look like he’d be able to kill an already dead being. 

 

But it wouldn’t be killing. These people were already dead. That was the only reason why they were here in the first place. Because they were sinners. Not good people, just sinners being punished for whatever they had done when they had a beating heart. And now Baekhyun was about to take away their dead heart too. Not Baekhyun. Chanyeol. Chanyeol who had been standing idle in front of the wired being for what felt like an hour but was nothing in this world.

 

Baekhyun couldn’t see his face but he could make out the stiff line of his shoulders, as straight as the first row of monsters in a copper field covered in black.

 

He took a deep breath in. It tasted burnt, tasted like plastic, tasted like death. 

 

"You can do this," Baekhyun said, voice breaking once in the beginning of his sentence and then ascending down without a rest. Chanyeol didn’t flinch, didn’t look at him. Baekhyun stepped to stand next to him. They were together in this. "You have to do it."

 

There was no surprise when he saw the twist in Chanyeol’s features, the deep wrinkles between his eyebrows, the droop of his eyelids, and the faint line that was pressed where his lips should be. Baekhyun drew a stuttering breath in and the faint sound of it seemed to switch something in Chanyeol. He gasped air into his mouth, as if even his lifeless body needed the reassurance of breathing before he brought a hand up.

 

He laid it on the chest of the monster, pressing into the wires there. Baekhyun expected it to sink in, expected cables to shoot out and clutch his hand, eat it up, but nothing of that sort happened. His hand merely remained blue against the black and copper of the monster’s body. His other hand followed the movement and Baekhyun felt the blade slicing off his own breath and heart as Chanyeol raised it closer to the monster’s chest. His heart wasn’t the one threatened, wasn’t the one about to be carved out and ripped off and sold but Baekhyun felt it squeeze and wail against his chest, hard enough for it to reverberate in his stomach.

 

Then, Chanyeol froze. The blade remained only a hairbreadth away from the wired body. The wind whistled harder around them, ruffling their clothes, gathering around them like a bloodthirsty crowd. But there would be no blood. There would be no blood and yet, Chanyeol remained frozen, a second, two, three that Baekhyun counted in his head out of habit, and then he shook his head.

 

"I—" was the word Chanyeol choked in his mouth as he shook his head harder, not looking away from the blade but not pulling it away either. "I can’t," he said just as the blade started fluttering. The wind crashed against them harder. It wasn’t the wind that made Chanyeol’s hand shake.

 

And Baekhyun hated this. He hated the fact that he had to do this, had to open his mouth and encourage Chanyeol to do it. Because they had to. For Chanyeol. For Baekhyun, himself. They had to take the heart away. It would not kill the monster. He was already dead but it felt like they were about to murder someone. And maybe they were. Maybe they were. Because every single being he had encountered until now was alive. None of them had functioning organs, a beating heart, but they were alive. To Baekhyun, they were.

 

They had to do this. Baekhyun clenched his fists and threw them out of his pockets. The wind licked at his fingers greedily. He parted his lips, pressed them together, took a deep breath through his nose, and then parted them again.

 

 _"Do it,"_ a voice said and it took Baekhyun a dizzy moment to realize it wasn’t his own.

 

Chanyeol’s head whipped up at once, gaze ripped away from the blade and piercing into two copper dots. They didn’t blink. But they looked. Baekhyun felt them on him, felt shivers still spiked all over his body, his heart planted into one of the sharpest as the realization that the monster had been the one to speak dawned upon him.

 

 _"Please. Do it,_ " the monster repeated, his voice nothing but sizzles and cracks. Nothing that sounded natural, like a noisy fire, but more akin to the electric sound clacking when two ripped off wires were pressed together.

 

Baekhyun found himself right between these two wires, sparks whipping against his body, inside his body, agonizingly.

 

The monsters’s lips weren’t a downwards arch anymore, the copper wires formed a proper, cartoonish mouth that was left open, as if the creature would pant had it possessed the necessary breath. 

 

Chanyeol shook his head again but Baekhyun wasn’t sure it was to indicate refusal. He had pulled the knife away from the monster, still raising it but not as close anymore.

 

 _"It’s so painful,"_ the monster sizzled and he looked frozen, nailed to the cross, exhausted, drained. It looked drained. He.

 

 _"Don’t,"_ another voice crackled next to them and Baekhyun looked to his left, copper eyes and another open mouth meeting him. _"Not him. Me. Take me. Kill me."_

 

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol whose crimson eyes looked dull so close to the sea of black monsters. Field.

 

He met Baekhyun’s eyes once before they flickered to his left when a third voice rose there. An identical voice with the identical pleads.

 

 _"Not him. Take me. Save me,"_ it said and before his last word even ended, another voice drowned it out. _"It’s so tiring."_

 

And another. And another. Another. Until Baekhyun couldn’t hear anything but voices, dozens of them, maybe hundreds, the same crackles and sizzles begging to be killed, begging to be saved. They didn’t sound like a single voice. A crowd, a mob that was fierce enough for Baekhyun to be pushed back one step.

 

Chanyeol remained on his spot, still right in front of the first monster they had targeted. Now, Baekhyun wasn’t sure they were targets. He wasn’t sure taking their hearts away would be a bad thing. That only made him feel worse, honed the spikes of discomfort planted through his entire body. 

 

_"Me. Save me."_

 

_"Kill me. Please."_

 

_"End this. Put an end to this."_

 

_"Please."_

 

He couldn’t make out anything else. Those were the only words crowding into his ears. He couldn’t see anything else but those words. He could _see_ those words in wired faces that were of nothing but a black lump of cables, two copper dots, and a twisted mouth that screamed of agony.

 

"I can’t," Baekhyun suddenly heard and his gaze snapped to Chanyeol. 

 

His eyes were burning. Chanyeol was almost blurry in front of him. Still in front of the monsters, still frozen, except his head that was shaking, just like the hand that was holding the kitchen knife. His lips moved. He said something. Baekhyun couldn’t make it out over the begs for death, the pleads for freedom. Chanyeol took a step back.

 

Baekhyun traced over the field with his gaze. They had to do this. They had to take a heart. They had to. For Chanyeol. They had to. 

 

He stepped forward.

 

"Chanyeol," he called, voice as trembly as Chanyeol’s shoulders looked. "You have to do it. Do it. Please. Quickly. Just get it over with and let’s leave. Please," Baekhyun blurted out, listed, tried to convince the other, his last word blending in with the mob of voices suffocating him.

 

Chanyeol didn't look at him. He didn’t shake his head but he said something that Baekhyun couldn’t catch. His voice was too weak. Baekhyun didn’t need to to hear it to figure out that Chanyeol couldn’t do it. But he had to. Baekhyun felt urgency clenching around his neck, growing with each beg thrown at him. They weren’t loud, always steady, static, and yet Baekhyun heard  them scream right into his brain. But he had to.

 

Baekhyun closed his eyes. Counted three seconds, breathed in, out, in, and when he opened his eyes again, they weren’t burning. They were spilling.

 

He bit into his tongue and stepped to Chanyeol, moving to stand on his right. In a blur of movements, he grabbed the wrist of the hand that was holding the knife, raised it, closed his eyes, and then threw it forward. The mob dispersed at once. A hush fell over the crowd. The wind whistled lengthily, delightedly.

 

When he opened his eyes, Baekhyun saw the tip of the blade disappearing into a disrupted mess of cables. He stopped biting on his tongue. It was numb. He looked up at Chanyeol. His eyes were stuck to where the knife pierced through the monster. Baekhyun couldn’t feel himself breathing. He forced himself to look at the blade again. He had stabbed the monster. His hand was still clutched around Chanyeol’s wrist. 

 

He dragged his gaze up from the blade to the monster’s neck and then, to his face. His mouth was wide open, in an inexistent gasp. He had no irises but Baekhyun felt him looking right into his eyes. He closed his mouth into a single copper line again, arched downwards, as if it was its default setting. But it wasn’t. Slowly, Baekhyun watched as it arched upwards into a smile. Copper. Small. Light. Breathing of freedom.

 

It wasn’t the monster’s breath. Maybe it was Baekhyun’s. The breath he couldn’t feel. They had stabbed him, together. With Chanyeol. They had stabbed the monster. The wind whistled and Baekhyun felt dampness dragging down his cheeks. 

 

"I’m sorry," he could barely even say, mords chewed, chopped off. "I’m so sorry," he repeated, looking into the monster’s eyes.

 

It said nothing. He said nothing. His smile widened. The color was a bit duller. Dying. 

 

Baekhyun had stabbed him and was killing him and he had killed him and he was going to kill him and he was a monster but he didn’t deserve that.

 

"I’m really so sorry," he repeated but this time, his voice was louder, rattling with a cough against his chest. Not really a cough. A sob. Baekhyun didn’t know what to call it. Things didn’t seem to be what they were, in this damned world.

 

He shook his head and loosened his hold on Chanyeol’s wrist. He shook his head harder and repeated his apology again, and again, and endlessly because he had just hurt someone who was looking at him as if he had liberated him and it was so unfair.

 

Cold fingers grabbed his hand then and pulled it away from Chanyeol’s wrist at last. He didn’t feel claws digging into his skin this time. Baekhyun looked up at Chanyeol through the damp blur in his eyes. He didn’t look as agitated anymore. He stared right into Baekhyun’s eyes, not intimidatingly but with finality. His hold on Baekhyun’s hand wasn’t strong but he wasn’t shaking anymore.

 

He let go of Baekhyun’s hand and the latter let it drop down. He took a deep breath in and a step back, leaving Chanyeol to stand alone. He couldn’t feel copper eyes looking at him anymore. Chanyeol was still holding onto the knife. There was no blood when he pulled it out of the cabled body with a single sharp movement. Baekhyun startled a little, as if the blade had been taken out of his own body. But it wasn’t. He could still feel it laying in his throat, barring the way to his lungs. 

 

The wind was the only sound parasitizing the solemnity heaving over the whole field as Chanyeol planted the knife back into the body, this time with more strength. Baekhyun forced himself not to look away as he proceeded to carve out an opening into the monster’s chest, a small rectangular one that was like a door to the being’s heart. Except they hadn’t knocked. They hadn’t left him any choice. Or maybe the monster hadn’t left them any choice.

 

Chanyeol ripped the rectangular board-like chunk of cables and when he dropped it to the floor, it all suddenly fell apart, like wobbly strings instead of wires. Baekhyun heard a wheeze just as he saw blue, red, copper, and silver bundled up into a single lump in the monster’s chest. A mechanical heart. Not a heart. Nothing but the system that somehow produced the electricity drained out of his body. The sound of distress wasn’t coming from Baekhyun.

 

He looked away when Chanyeol brandished the knife again. He heard a sizzle, the crack of an electrical shorting, and the wail of a blade cutting through cables. He looked at the monster’s face instead. The stringed smile was still there, arched widely, even wider than before. Its corners would reach the monster’s ears if he had any. It was with a groan and a short moment of struggle that Chanyeol ripped the electronic system away from the monster’s chest.

 

And then, there was nothing. Chanyeol remained sidle, holding onto the heart of an electric system. The wind whistled a guffaw into their ears. Baekhyun shoved his hands into his pockets. It was cold. For the first time ever, the wind actually felt chilly. 

 

 _"Me too_ ," was the first plea to shatter the heavy hush over the whole spread of monsters.

 

The now heartless one didn’t move, didn’t speak, didn’t blink, didn’t look any different than before. He was just frozen now. Broken and unusable. Out of service.

 

 _"Me too,"_ was the echo of that first plea. Stronger. The same steady, identical tone but louder to Baekhyun’s ears. _"Please."_

 

Chanyeol stepped away.

 

 _"Here. I’m here. Please,"_ a third voice sizzled and that seemed to be the switch for a wave of cries to wreck over them.

 

The copper, lifeless smile didn’t budge. Didn’t show anything but liberation.

 

_"I beg of you."_

 

_"Save me too."_

 

 _"Kill me too,"_ Baekhyun heard again and again and over again in layers and coats and prickling voices.

 

With each word crowded into him, Baekhyun felt part of his breath stolen, part of his mind saturated, part of his consciousness running away. Like he should.

 

Chanyeol turned around. He was still holding the heart in the palm of his hand when he met Baekhyun’s gaze. Baekhyun said nothing and yet Chanyeol seemed to understand the anguish tightening around his neck like a rope ready to avenge the life they had just taken. But there had been no life to even take. 

 

Chanyeol shoved the heart into another pouch he retrieved from his bag and then dumped it all back inside again.

 

 _"No,"_ several voices lamented. Not in unison. Not as one voice. As a cacophony of pain.

 

_"Don’t leave."_

 

Chanyeol hoisted his backpack up over his shoulders. He caught Baekhyun’s gaze and nodded. Liberation.

 

_"Don’t forget us."_

 

_"Us too."_

 

Baekhyun gave him a nod of his head and together, they stepped away from a field of agony.

 

_"Save us."_

 

_"Kill us."_

 

_"Take my heart too."_

 

The ghosts of plaints for salvation grew deafening the farther they got from nails and wires and desolation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The anguish Baekhyun had picked up in the Electric Fields lingered on him even later, still tight around his every limb, like wires locking him in their exhausting embrace.

 

He wasn't the only one to feel those wires. Chanyeol looked as uncomfortable as he did through the long, idle moment they spent walking. They hadn’t exchanged a single word since the fields but Baekhyun didn’t need Chanyeol to say it for him to understand it. They had both trembled helplessly as they carved out the heart of a monster together. Baekhyun still felt his fingers twitching from time to time. He still saw Chanyeol’s long nails fiddling with the hem of his hoodie. There was a new hole there.

 

And Baekhyun couldn’t even hate Chanyeol for what he had made him do, for forcing him to be the one to plant the knife into the monster’s chest first. He couldn’t blame him for anything when he had seen how difficult and traumatizing the whole experience had been for Chanyeol too. He had seen how human Chanyeol had been, in that moment.

 

They walked until the wind got too strong for them to. They laid camp in another valley that tired Baekhyun’s legs and burned them with unending ups and downs, a natural rollercoaster he had to climb up in a naturally artificial world. 

 

They laid out their blankets on the mushy, grassy ground in silence. Baekhyun usually laid it across from Chanyeol’s blanket but this time, he laid it next to his, a bit closer than usual. He didn’t think distance would do him good tonight and by the lack of protest from Chanyeol, he supposed the other felt the same way, was scared to feel the same way Baekhyun didn’t want to. Alone, haunted, and helpless.

 

It was difficult to always find things to burn so on the way, Baekhyun had mustered the habit of picking up any piece of dry wood or weed he could find. He retrieved it all from his bag along with a bottle of water. Chanyeol grabbed a stick and his lighter, picking up a flame on the tip while Baekhyun arranged everything into a lump. Chanyeol put the flaming stick right in the middle, leaning down to blow on the growing flame as Baekhyun leaned back and sat properly, gathering his knees against his chest and wrapping his arms around them.

 

Chanyeol straightened his back again, sitting cross-legged and without a word, they watched the flames sway on the beat of the wind’s whistling.

 

It was the first time ever that they sat side by side. Baekhyun felt his heart hiding in a corner of his chest, as if it didn’t want to accept that this happened after they had killed an already dead being together. He wished this didn’t happen. Them sitting together after such an event, in silence rather than talking about Chanyeol’s favorite dramas and the expensive cars he had owned with money he didn’t deserve.

 

Baekhyun didn't speak. He just felt. The shivers tiptoeing under his hoodie, the skin on his neck tightening in an attempt to sink down and hide in his shoulders, the chill that he could feel emanating from Chanyeol’s body even through his clothes. They were sitting close. Baekhyun was grateful. He was relieved Chanyeol didn’t blame him for making him stab the wired being. He was relieved Chanyeol had gotten a grip of himself and finished the job on his own. Baekhyun didn’t think he could’ve done more than what he had.

 

After a long moment that Baekhyun didn’t count the duration of in his head, Chanyeol silently leaned to grab his backpack and drag it towards himself. Baekhyun didn’t look at what he was doing, just heard him rummage inside. it wasn’t that he couldn’t look at Chanyeol anymore after what had happened, staring at the unregulated shiver of small flames just had something hypnotizing, steadying. Baekhyun needed steadiness and calm.

 

It was only when Chanyeol poked his arm with something that Baekhyun looked at him. Into his eyes first, to check if they looked more like threatening flames or twin anchors he couldn’t lose in the dark of the night. He held onto those crimson stars for a fleeting moment, the tension in his nape scattering away, before he looked down at what Chanyeol was holding. He felt his cheeks bunching up into a smile.

 

"That’s my favorite," Baekhyun heard himself mumble weakly as he stared at the small, rectangular, pink packaging of strawberry-flavored cake. This particular kind of snack always made him happy but as Baekhyun’s fingers grabbed it from Chanyeol’s, he felt delight washing over the anguish stirring in his stomach. "How did you know?" he asked, too lightheaded by the sudden decrease in discomfort to realize what he said.

 

When he looked at Chanyeol again, he processed his own words. It was a stupid question. Chanyeol had packed a lot of food for this journey, this was just another random thing he had shoved into his bag to make sure Baekhyun wouldn’t die from starvation.

 

He looked down at the strawberry smiling at him from the packaging. He couldn’t return it.

 

"You always had a pack of strawberry-flavored cakes in your room," Chanyeol spoke before Baekhyun could rip the packaging open to drown out his embarrassment. He gathered the courage to look at him again. There was the shadow of a smile on his lips. Or maybe it was the shadows of the fire. "You always ate them after praying on those nights."

 

It wasn’t said openly, but the purse of Chanyeol’s lips after those words was enough for Baekhyun to understand what he meant. He always ate these on the days his father was particularly drunk and violent. The pink delight at the center of the spongy pastry felt like ointment to his bruises.

 

The sourness perpetually allied to the knowledge that Chanyeol had witnessed things Baekhyun was ashamed of wasn’t as acid as it usually was but it still spread under his palate. 

 

"Also," Chanyeol spoke again, raising Baekhyun’s gaze from the smile on the strawberry to the one on his face. It wasn’t pink, but blue. It was just as grounding. "I remember you once changing the lyrics of a song to serenade your love to strawberries."

 

A chocked chuckle escaped Baekhyun at that, weak, small, before it dragged out more of them along and soon, he was laughing freely. The quiet but slack titters seemed to tickle the corners of Chanyeol’s lips, his smile twitched.

 

"Why do you only remember embarrassing things I did when I thought I was alone in my room?" Baekhyun accused, the jumpiness of laughter rendering his tone uneven.

 

Chanyeol raised his eyebrows and straightened his back so he’d look down at Baekhyun. Teasing shadows gathered in a tiny pool on his bunched up cheek.

 

"Maybe because everything you did was embarrassing," he huffed, tone haughty but not serious enough for Baekhyun to keep in a snort.

 

He looked down at the cake he was holding. His fingers didn’t twitch or tremble anymore when he carefully ripped the packaging open.

 

"Do you want some?" he asked, holding it out to Chanyeol.

 

"It’s the only one," he replied, shaking his head.

 

Heart breathing with more ease, Baekhyun parted the small pastry into two halves and silently held one out to Chanyeol. He hesitated a second before grabbing it and shoving the whole of it into his mouth.

 

Baekhyun huffed half a laugh out as he watched Chanyeol munch on it, cheeks puffed out, scales rolling on his skin with the movement, like drops of glitter swaying on a sky-reflected puddle. Chanyeol narrowed his eyes at him and Baekhyun rolled his own, shaking his head in amused exasperation.

 

He took his time eating his own half of the cake. It always lasted longer if he took tiny bites and savored the burst of strawberries in his mouth with every single one of them. Silence draped over them again but this time, it was a comforting, familiar blanket heated by the flames they had raised together.

 

"Thank you," Chanyeol said much later, when the fire had started lulling Baekhyun’s mind.

 

Blinking bleariness out of his eyes, Baekhyun looked at him. He was still sitting cross-legged on his own blanket, his second one carelessly put next to him for when he’d want to cover himself up. Baekhyun had mimicked him, both in the way he sat and in getting his own second blanket out of his bag. 

 

"For what?" he asked, trying to wake his wits up so they could take part in the conversation too.

 

Chanyeol didn’t look away from him. He should. He usually did, but Baekhyun noticed that they looked at each other more often now, for longer. He liked looking into Chanyeol’s eyes and not seeing warnings and dissuasion.

 

"For helping me out there," he said, the depth of his voice magnifying the sluggish duet of fire and wind. "I don’t think I would’ve been able to do it without you."

 

Baekhyun smiled at him. A trembly, unsure arch of his lips. Much, much smaller than the copper smile they had immortalized in the Electric Fields. He sunk his teeth into his lower lip.

 

"He’s not dead," he said, stopping to take a deep breath in. The lingering sweetness in his mouth had started turning bitter again. "Is he?"  

 

It sounded like such a stupid question to ask but this world had a bizarre functioning. Baekhyun couldn’t figure out the consequences of their acts. He knew so much about the Cave already. He knew what its Queen looked like, he knew it had no currency, he knew no one needed to eat or sleep to survive, but he didn’t know if a dead being could be killed again.

 

"I don’t know," Chanyeol sighed, his breath too long, too strong, enough to tickle Baekhyun’s nose with a chill. Baekhyun felt the cold seeping into his own breath. "I don’t know how every monster works but I know that we can’t really die here. We’re just souls."

 

"He was frozen," Baekhyun recalled. His fingers found the stray thread at the seam of his jeans again. "Like a robot. When you turn it off. Something like that."

 

Chanyeol hummed. He brought a hand up and ruffled his hair. The silver strands looked nice against the black of his claws. He left his hand there, playing with his hair for a fleeting moment.

 

"I think," he started before cutting himself off with a frown. "He was kind of like a robot. We took out what kept it working, its core mechanism. I think he’s not dead." He dropped his hand back on his lap. "I think he might just be not working anymore. His shell, his body is not working anymore. There was no more electricity after we took his heart out but maybe his soul is still there, conscious. He cannot die."

 

"But how can that be possible?" Baekhyun question as he rubbed his face with his hand. His eyes stung. His head ached a little. "He’s divine, manmade rules shouldn’t apply to him. Just because we took its core system out doesn’t mean he can’t work anymore, right? The Almighty made him to produce electricity with His own hands."

 

"If the Almighty could produce electricity without the help of manmade systems, he would’ve made it available in the human world without humans themselves having to create it, don’t you think?" Chanyeol reasoned.

 

It made sense. Kind of. That body was just a shell for his soul. Baekhyun supposed it was similar to monsters turning into those furry bear-like creatures when they lose their minds. Just a shell for a soul.

 

"Maybe the Angels will notice that he’s not working anymore. Maybe they’ll come to take him away. Or repair him," Chanyeol said when Baekhyun remained silent. Baekhyun hoped they wouldn’t repair him. He deserved to rest. "I hope he’s not dead."

 

He looked at Chanyeol after he muttered those last words. He was looking into the fire, blank. Nonetheless, Baekhyun somehow figured out that he meant those words.

 

Baekhyun closed his eyes. His stomach felt funny. He didn’t want to have this conversation anymore. He just wanted to sleep and forget about the Electric Fields for a while.

 

"I’m sleepy," he sighed and when he opened his eyes, Chanyeol nodded at him.

 

"Let’s just sleep. We need the rest," he said, already grabbing his second blanket.

 

Without another word, they both moved to lay down, side by side, close, but on different bedsheets. The fire heated his feet, at a comfortable distance from them. It was a relief to faint throb in his ankle. It was minimal, it would probably be gone by morning. Baekhyun sighed again and closed his eyes.

 

Sleep didn’t come. He didn’t expect slumber to find him as soon as he closed his eyes but he still wished he could just shut his mind down for a bit.

 

He didn’t feel bad. 

 

He shouldn’t feel bad. They had freed the monster from eternal exertion, they had done a good thing, something that had been asked of them. What Baekhyun felt bad for was the hundreds, maybe thousands of other monsters they couldn’t save.

 

It barely even made any sense. There was a reason why these people had been turned into these monsters. They were probably deserving of their end. It was so easy to forget everyone in this world was a sinner. Yet, Baekhyun couldn’t help but wonder if it was right to turn them into these creatures and tire them out so much, lock them into eternal pain, for some. But Baekhyun wouldn’t know. He couldn’t judge. Even if he couldn’t help but hate the god that he had prayed to hundreds of times before, he knew he didn’t have the ability to comprehend the dynamics of this universe. All he knew was that that it was unfair to these monsters but that, in some way, it might be entirely fair as well.

 

He heard rustling on his right but kept his eyes closed. Chanyeol was part of this world. He was a sinner. Each time he thought about that, Baekhyun couldn’t avoid the lump lodging in his throat. He wasn’t sure why. Chanyeol was obviously a monster, just like everyone else in this world was, even if his appearance was far from being the worse sentence Baekhyun had seen.

 

But it wasn’t about his appearance. It wasn’t Chanyeol’s appearance that made it difficult for Baekhyun to associate him to that word now. Monster.

 

It was difficult when Chanyeol acted nothing like it. He had dragged Baekhyun here for his own selfish reasons but had made sure to keep him safe and alive. He had treated Baekhyun poorly and cruelly at first but had made him smile even just a little bit after a traumatizing experience. He had mocked Baekhyun for his behavior in the Above more than once but had given him his favorite pastry when Baekhyun felt sad. He was willing to sacrifice many things for his final aim but he had been nothing but human as he faced a creature he was supposed to kill. He wished that being wasn’t dead.

 

It was an odd realization. Not a novel one, but a final one. Chanyeol wasn’t a monster. Baekhyun couldn’t know about his human life but _this_ Chanyeol wasn’t a monster.

 

Opening his eyes, Baekhyun turned towards him. Chanyeol’s eyes were closed, his features slack. He couldn’t tell if he was asleep already. Thirty seconds might have passed since they had decided to sleep but it could’ve been thirty minutes too. He couldn’t measure time. It was almost liberating not to care about what time it was, to just listen for the wind to decide when to sleep.

 

Chanyeol did look asleep. Baekhyun quietly shifted to lay on his side, facing Chanyeol who was turned towards him as well. The fiery glow of the flames were too far away to taint his skin tone with any hue, it remained blue, clear, but a bit faded because of the yellowish taint of the sky. It didn’t look weird. Maybe because Baekhyun’s eyes had gotten used to the color but it didn’t look out of place. On the contrary, it almost suited Chanyeol, the smooth expanse of blue brightening his features.

 

As he observed him for an unmeasurable moment, Baekhyun was hit by another realization. Although, it wasn’t really a hit. More like the careful but determined tiptoeing of a thought into his head. Chanyeol was rather good-looking.

 

Baekhyun couldn’t tell how exactly he managed to find someone who had blue skin attractive. He didn’t know why. All he could see was that the shape of Chanyeol’s eyebrows was cute. His eyelashes weren’t long, nor were they black, but rather a darker shade of blue than his skin, their arch on his eyelids shaping two colored feathers bending at the wind’s will. The scales scattered on his cheeks complimented the color of his eyelashes seamlessly, their green glinting delicately, naturally.

 

He moved just a little closer to the other, just so he could see him better, quietly, making sure that his bedsheets wouldn’t rustle, just in case he wasn’t asleep.

 

Chanyeol’s nose wasn’t too small but it didn’t sit on his face weirdly either, it didn’t look out of place, it blended comfortably with the valley of his cupid’s bow. His lips had a nice shape. Maybe a nice texture. His lower one was just a little pouty. Baekhyun couldn’t put a name on their color. The pigmentation wasn’t as harsh as the rest of his skin and yet, it wasn’t as soft either. It was a blue Baekhyun had never seen before but not one that he regretted ever seeing.

 

Chanyeol was handsome. He was far from being horrendous and repulsing, he didn’t match the view he had of himself. Baekhyun could tell. With the smooth surface of his skin and its healthy color sprinkled by tiny gleams of green when the light hit them right, his face almost looked like a jewel. Out of the norm but pleasant to the eye. Not in a flashy way, not in an immediate way either. In a way that made Baekhyun close his eyes, then glance at him again, close his eyes, then glance at him, and again. 

 

He wondered if Chanyeol’s skin was as soft as it looked. He wondered if the color changed the texture. He wondered if he could touch him and feel it.

 

He couldn’t. It would be stupid. It might ruin things and it would be weird. He shook his head to himself and closed his eyes, turned to lay on his back. He counted four seconds in his head before opening his eyes and turning to Chanyeol.

 

Just a touch. He could just graze his fingertips against Chanyeol’s cheek. Maybe his nose. Now that he looked again, Chanyeol’s nose was quite adorable. Just a small touch. Just to see if it felt as nice as it looked. For a second. He’d count it in his head.

 

Hesitatingly, Baekhyun reached a hand towards Chanyeol. Slowly, enough for the wind to wrap around his wrist and freeze him for a second. The fire crackled once, loudly. Baekhyun remained idle. Chanyeol didn’t budge. He was asleep then. He wouldn’t feel it. Baekhyun would just do it quickly. It would be okay. Because Chanyeol wasn’t a monster. He couldn’t be, not when his silver hair looked as pretty as the moon Baekhyun had never seen in the sky watching over him now.

 

The wind separating his finger from Chanyeol’s skin was narrowing down and with each new whistle, Baekhyun felt his heart nearing his ribcage, turning back, and running closer again, as if it wanted to catch a glimpse of Baekhyun’s skin against Chanyeol’s but was wary of it. Its whole journey in his chest quickened with every beat and Baekhyun slowed down. He counted his heartbeats instead of the seconds when he felt the cold breath of Chanyeol’s skin against the tip of his finger.

 

Suddenly, the cold didn’t breathe against his skin but kissed his finger pad instead. It was a smooth puff of cold. Refreshing, pleasant. Chanyeol’s skin felt as blue as it looked. Two drops of crimson blended in then and Baekhyun’s heart jumped in a corner of his chest as he looked into Chanyeol’s eyes.

 

He should pull his hand away. Chanyeol’s eyes were hooded, his eyelids heavy, eyelashes gentle streaks of morning in a bleeding sunrise. Baekhyun should pull his hand away. He didn’t look angry, he just looked into Baekhyun’s eyes. He should stop touching him.

 

But he was frozen, the cold of Chanyeol’s skin permeating into his finger, his hand, his arm, and then chilling the rest of his body. It wasn’t unpleasant. Exhilarating.

 

Chanyeol said nothing, did nothing. Baekhyun’s finger accidentally slid down his cheek a little bit and his heart turned an icy blue. But Chanyeol didn’t claw at his hand, rip it away, or push him into the fire so he’d melt and carry the bruises of a mistake forever. His eyes were lulling, not accusing.

 

Baekhyun parted his lips to breath a whistle in and his heart jittered in his chest. He glided his finger down a little again, trying to locate Chanyeol’s dimple. He couldn’t. He hadn’t seen it enough to know where exactly it dipped into his skin. Baekhyun gave up and pressed a second finger against his cheek, Chanyeol’s gaze drifting over his features just as gently. Enough for Baekhyun to gather the courage to cup the bundle of velvet that was his cheek.

 

"What are you doing?" Chanyeol whispered then and Baekhyun was relieved that his voice felt as silky as his skin did. If not, he would’ve startled away.

 

Instead, Baekhyun brushed a thumb over the bare blue of his cheekbone.

 

"It’s so soft," he said, wonder swaying in his voice as he watched the contrast of their skin. Not a contrast. It felt like a completion. Baekhyun didn’t feel like himself. He felt like his mind had left his head, plummeted down into an endless expanse of blue it was now swimming in without any fear. "It feels like flowers," he heard himself murmur. "In the Above. There’s blue flowers. I haven’t seen many flowers but they were my favorite."

 

Dainty, delicate blue flowers that grew in a pot in front of their neighbor’s window. Baekhyun had touched them once, when he was in middle school. The old woman had complained to his father about it and Baekhyun’s skin had turned purple and blue that same night on his hands and arms.

 

Chanyeol’s skin felt and looked like those perky petals. Except Baekhyun felt like nothing would hurt him for daring to touch them.

 

Chanyeol wouldn’t. Instead, he closed his eyes and there was the faint dreaminess of a smile on his lips as he leaned into Baekhyun’s touch, slowly, faintly, as if unconsciously. Baekhyun smiled.

 

He smiled because he hadn’t ever touched anyone like that. He wondered if it had been a while since Chanyeol had allowed someone to touch him like that.

 

Wonder guided his thumb to sweep along Chanyeol’s cheek bone again. It was so smooth, almost creamy. Maybe not creamy. Baekhyun wasn’t sure. He wasn’t good with words and he was even worse at putting a name on something he had never felt before.

 

His eyes were caught by the gleams freckled just below his thumb and Baekhyun’s touch chased the brilliance. He traced over it with the pad of his thumb, leaning closer, supporting himself on his elbow. It felt odd. Not in a bad way. It felt harsh yet delicate under his touch, rigid yet smooth, stony yet fragile. Baekhyun caressed him and Chanyeol’s eyelashes fluttered. He stared at the pretty shape of Chanyeol’s closed eyes for a moment. His eyelashes fluttered again, his eyes still closed, and weirdly, Baekhyun felt something in him mirror the sway.

 

His thumb nuzzled against the entrancing green again but this time, his nail caught on the scale.

 

Chanyeol’s eyes snapped open, the flutters gone, and when he jerked away, Baekhyun’s hand fell down on the bedsheets with a dead thump.

 

The red of his eyes wasn’t gentle anymore. It wasn’t a sunset but a blaring alarm.

 

"Don’t touch me," he said and Baekhyun had heard that sentence many times in his life. 

 

It was always filled with disgust, directed at Baekhyun whenever he accidentally grazed someone his high school hallways. This time, it was filled with disgust too.

 

But now, the eyes that were filled with repulsion weren’t staring at him. Chanyeol was looking down at his own hands, at the claws planted on his blanket. Maybe Baekhyun had dropped his heart on Chanyeol’s blanket because he felt those punctures.

 

"Why?" he whispered, not because he felt cornered but because he felt like Chanyeol could jerk away from him again were he to speak any louder. "It’s just skin."

 

Chanyeol snorted at that. He was still looking at himself, still not meeting Baekhyun’s gaze. Baekhyun wasn’t sure whether he missed the softness of Chanyeol’s gaze or of his skin already. What he knew was that that sensation was solely based on the fact that in that moment, as Baekhyun had been caressing it with care, Chanyeol had looked at peace with his skin.

 

"It’s not just skin," he mumbled and his features were tense again, his shoulders were tense, his voice was rigid. "It’s the skin of a monster."

 

And maybe it was stupid. Baekhyun had often hated himself, his body, his hair, his lacking strength, his legs that weren’t long enough to outrun, his shoulders that weren’t broad enough to dissuade. He had often hated himself but now, as he realized just how much Chanyeol hated himself, Baekhyun felt his heart throb in pain, drop to his stomach and pulsate ache through the rest of his body, up until he couldn’t even locate the pain anymore. It just felt like his soul was what hurt. Maybe it was stupid.

 

"You’re not a monster in my eyes," he confessed to a sinner that felt like anything but.

 

Chanyeol raised his head and looked at him. Really looked at him. Baekhyun forgot to count the seconds but it felt too short when Chanyeol shook his head and without any word, turned his back to him. He pulled his blanket over his head and the blue was gone.

 

Baekhyun laid back down but didn’t turn away from the sight of Chanyeol’s rigid back. Heart heavy, he shoved his hands under his blanket to conceal them from the wind. 

 

The chill of it didn’t feel as comfortable as the cooling satin of Chanyeol’s skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wrote the Electric Fields scene in chunks bc it was kinda uncomfortable to write it all at once for me and I hope it doesn't read as choppy or weird ;;  
> Thank you to everyone who left a kudo or a comment on this it's really sweet of you <3
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Bbaegi_) II [Curious Cat](https://curiouscat.me/Bbaegi)


	9. Chapter Eight

This was starting to get repetitive.

 

Laugh. Argue. Have a nice conversation. And then silence again.

 

Baekhyun really didn’t know why they couldn’t hold a nice conversation two days in a row. He really couldn’t figure out why something along the way had to go wrong enough for a spike of silence to scratch a border between them again.

 

It had happened again. After the satiny calm of last night, Chanyeol was barely even looking at him anymore. 

 

They had been walking for a while now, with no destination in Baekhyun’s mind because Chanyeol hadn’t uttered a single word to him and he hadn’t mustered the courage to ask for it himself. He didn’t know why this had to happen. 

 

His only comfort was that, at least, Chanyeol wasn’t walking five steps ahead of him like he usually would after an argument. They were walking side by side, Baekhyun’s shorter steps synched to Chanyeol’s longer ones. Their eyes hadn’t met at all since Baekhyun had opened them this morning. Or earlier. He didn’t know, he hadn’t been able to focus enough to try and measure the time in his own head.

 

They hadn’t even fought either. A twig snapped under Baekhyun’s foot. He looked down at the path they were walking on. There were no trees around them now but a lot of small branches and twigs were tapestrying the ground they walked on. Had Baekhyun made Chanyeol uncomfortable by touching his cheek?

 

If he had disliked it, wouldn’t Chanyeol show it? Wouldn’t he have slapped Baekhyun’s hand away, screamed at him, even punched him? He hadn’t done anything of that sort. Baekhyun didn’t know.

 

He didn’t like this silence. He didn’t like the way Chanyeol was just walking, gesturing to his left or right to warn Baekhyun that they’d have to turn. He didn’t like the way he had handed him a sandwich earlier —ham, this time— without even looking into Baekhyun’s eyes. He missed the way they’d bicker. It always made Baekhyun feel like Chanyeol’s friend. Like Jongdae. Chanyeol seemed to bicker with Jongdae a lot. Baekhyun wondered if Jongdae would’ve helped him understand Chanyeol if he was here.

 

But Jongdae wasn’t here. And Baekhyun didn’t want to wait for Jongdae to be here and help him understand Chanyeol. He wanted to understand him now.

 

Another twig snapped, this time under Chanyeol’s shoe. He looked down at his feet with an indifferent expression. Baekhyun bunched the hem of his sleeve into the palm of his hand and grabbed Chanyeol’s wrist with the other.

 

As soon as his skin touched Chanyeol’s, the latter stopped in his tracks, like a machine that was accidentally unplugged. He turned to Baekhyun, surprise bumping his eyebrows up for an insignificant moment before he looked down at where Baekhyun was grabbing onto his wrist. 

 

Heart anxiously lodged in his throat, Baekhyun followed his sightline. The blue of Chanyeol’s skin against the tone of Baekhyun’s fair skin reminded him of flowers. When the blue at the core of petals gradually blended into a creamier, paler color at the edges. His breath shuddered and he looked up at Chanyeol’s face.

 

"Can you tell me what’s wrong?" he asked, voice not as firm as he wished it was. Chanyeol was still not looking at him but at least, he was looking at Baekhyun’s hand, at where their skin met in harsh lines that didn’t cut through Baekhyun’s gaze.

 

But it seemed to prickle Chanyeol’s eyes. He freed his wrist from Baekhyun’s hold in a single movement, not harsh but definitely not gentle enough for Baekhyun not to feel as if Chanyeol had ripped off the skin of his hand at the same time.

 

"Can you not touch me, please?" Chanyeol asked, meeting Baekhyun’s gaze for the first time that day. It wasn’t a relief, didn’t feel pleasant to Baekhyun. Not when the plea in his voice seemed to take its source from the one in his eyes, bathed in an alarming red and framed by the sad droop of his eyebrows.

 

Chanyeol didn’t like Baekhyun touching him. Baekhyun swallowed down a bundle of acid that scratched at his throat painfully as those words echoed in his head. He shoved his hand into his hoodie’s front pocket, curling it into a fist, tight enough for his nails to bite at his palm for entry. 

 

Chanyeol had looked so much at peace with himself when Baekhyun’s fingertips had grazed his cheek last night. Now, he was begging Baekhyun with his gaze not to touch him again. There was no blame, no reprimand, no anger, no hatred. Chanyeol just seemed pained that Baekhyun touched him.

 

Baekhyun didn’t want to think it was because Chanyeol didn’t like his own skin. That would be delusional. Maybe he didn’t like _Baekhyun’s skin_ touching his.

 

He gulped air in and only spoke when Chanyeol finally looked away from him.

 

"Is this because of last night—"

 

"We’re going to the Rusted Rocks," Chanyeol cut him off before Baekhyun could finish his sentence.

 

Baekhyun deflated with a sigh when Chanyeol resumed walking, seemingly decided to act both like he hadn’t heard Baekhyun’s words and like last night hadn’t happened. 

 

Throwing a look at the spread of dry twigs all around them, Baekhyun followed him, snaps echoing under his feet.

 

"What are we going to get?" he asked because at least, this topic didn’t make Chanyeol uncomfortable.

 

They were still walking side by side after Baekhyun caught up to him. That was still a little comforting.

 

"Rusty water," Chanyeol merely said and Baekhyun could’t help but keep a snort in. 

 

Rusty water. Water that was rusted. Of course.

 

"How can water even be rusty," he mumbled to himself after a while, right when he started making out _another_ forest in the horizon.

 

It wasn’t meant to be heard but it seemed Chanyeol still took it upon himself to reply.

 

"This isn’t the human world," he said and Baekhyun quickly looked up at him, fearing another outburst or worse, another step towards progress that he once again ruined with his own mouth. "The same rules don’t apply," Chanyeol continued, however, no trace of offense on his face.

 

Baekhyun’s shoulders sagged in relief. He had to stop asking stupid questions. He really had to.

 

"Right," he mumbled, once again more to himself than to Chanyeol’s ears.

 

He looked ahead of himself again, pressing his list together to make sure no other stupid word would spill out of his mouth. He focused on the forest instead. It annoyed him now. Forests. but at least it kept him grounded.

 

Chanyeol was the one to break the silence a short while later.

 

"I’m glad you didn’t apologize this time," he said and when Baekhyun looked at him, his features were relaxed for the first time that day.

 

Relief delayed Baekhyun’s answer for a few seconds. He looked ahead of him again. Grass was now yielding under the sole of his shoes. There was no snap anymore.

 

"Apologize for what?" he asked softly.

 

"For comparing the Cave to the Above again." Baekhyun saw him shrug in the corner of his eye. He didn’t look at him. Oddly, he couldn’t anymore. "Usually, you’d apologize after I call you out on it. You didn’t. So I’m glad."

 

Maybe Baekhyun couldn’t look at Chanyeol because he didn’t want him to look back and see the pride he crushed under his teeth along with a smile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the end, this wasn’t a forest like the ones they’d walked through before.

 

It was nothing alike to the one with weird, twisted mutant animals, nor to the ones with skinny trees, thick trees, or even lampposts planted amidst the verdure. This forest was rusty and Baekhyun didn’t know why he even felt surprised about it.

 

While every tree he had seen until now had been either garnished with gooey leaves or bare with pointy branches that reminisced a winter in the Above, this forest was the perfect portrayal of an autumn. The trees were made out of bark, or at least something that looked like bark, but the color wasn’t anything between brown or black but rather, a metallic grey stained by streaks of rust and moldy green. Baekhyun restrained himself from touching the trunks to check if they were really made out of metal because he no longer trusted anything that looked weird.

 

They had leaves, a lot of leaves even, but they were pigmented in a rusty, reddish orange, like thin stripes of metal that had suffered under the rain for days on end. There was no wind in this world except at night but Baekhyun had a feeling that if the wind was to blow, these leaves wouldn’t flutter, wouldn’t rustle. The fact that there was not a single fallen, dead leaf on the ground was enough to back up that supposition.

 

That didn’t mean the ground was entirely bare either. If there were no leaves, there were branches that looked rusty and rotten at the tips, as if that was the reason why they had snapped away from their trees and laid on the ground like metal bats. There was also something that made walking even more difficult. Grains of sand were once again filtering into his shoes but this time, it felt a little sharper, a little stronger under the socked heel of his feet. It didn’t really feel, or look, like sand at all but like ground rusty metal that was now thin enough to pass off as sand. Fortunately, there wasn’t enough sand for their feet to really sink into it the way it would at a beach. It felt hard and uniform, as if the sand was only dusted over concrete in a thick layer. 

 

Or at least, that was what Baekhyun thought at first. The further they advanced, the deeper the sand seemed to get, thickening until half of their feet sunk into it for long, slowed down steps, until it seemed to filter out again and the sensation of walking on sandy concrete was back. That irregularity went on for a long time as they walked through the forest, that switch between deep sand and a thin layer on better grounds. It wouldn’t have mattered if sand was the only thing on the ground, but it wasn’t.

 

As soon as they had breached into the forest, Baekhyun found out that this pace was called the Rusty Rocks instead of the Rusty _Forest_ because boulders of rocks of all sizes were scattered around them. The smaller ones were easier to step on to avoid the deep sand but there were bigger ones, some that reached his knees and others that reached his chest in height. It was easier to walk in the sand to avoid the rocks that carried that signature copper shade of rust that was bright at times but faded, almost greenish on some rocks.

 

It felt like walking in a desert and a forest at the same time. The color reminded him of the Electric Fields and it didn’t take long for Baekhyun to feel discomfort stabbing into his chest and slowly sinking in further with each step he took amidst rusty trees, rocks, and sand. There were random cliffs around them as well, cliffs and sudden mountain-like accumulations of rocks. They neither went down the cliffs or climbed up the small rocky hills, only walked straight ahead, but Baekhyun still found it disconcerting.

 

Chanyeol didn’t look as affected as him. He didn’t look at Baekhyun either, but now, that didn’t seem on purpose anymore. He wasn’t staring straight in front of him as if something held his face away from Baekhyun, his gaze bounced all around them instead, eyes firing their surroundings, examining every tree ahead of them. He was walking closer to Baekhyun as well, their arms brushing from time to time. Baekhyun never stepped away when that happened but he expected Chanyeol to. He didn’t, though. And that was enough for the discomfort piercing Baekhyun’s chest to jump in and settle right next to his heart once and for all. 

 

Chanyeol looked agitated, on his guards, and maybe even a little nervous. His gaze never lingered in one spot for longer than the lapse between two blinks of the eyes. There was no one around them. Not a single sound. They’d been walking for a short while but Baekhyun felt like a whole day had passed since they’d passed by the first rusted rock.

 

He slipped the nail of his thumb inside a small slit he had managed to cut in sleeve of his hoodie. He didn’t know how or when he had done it exactly but the hole had enlarged since he had first noticed it.

 

"Is this a dangerous place?" he asked when he couldn’t take the silence anymore. It made him anxious. That wasn’t even what he wanted to ask but the anguish stirring his stomach made him unable to focus on his sentence. Obviously, this was a dangerous place. Baekhyun wanted to know _how_ dangerous it was.

 

There were no animals, no talking trees, nothing. There must be something. Baekhyun had learned how this world worked now. There was something in here, they just hadn’t encountered it yet.

 

"Yes," Chanyeol replied and his voice always sounded so neat. Baekhyun always had to clear his throat after long silences but that never happened to Chanyeol. It was a good thing. The clarity of his voice made it easier to decipher what he didn’t pronounce out loud, what he left out, that hint of hesitation.

 

"With what?" Baekhyun asked, voice suffocated in a long sigh. He just wanted to find a bed and sleep for two whole days. And shower. He hadn’t showered in so long. 

 

"Rusty dog-shaped machines," Chanyeol shrugged, finally looking at Baekhyun. "They live here."

 

The calm with which he pronounced those words dipped Baekhyun’s mind in blankness for a moment.

 

"What?" was the only thing he could say and of course, it came out as a croak rather a question.

 

Chanyeol looked in front of himself again, going back to exploring their surroundings with his gaze  first before letting their feet follow along.

 

"Hunters," he explained, one of his hands holding onto the strap of his backpack. "They’re turned to hunting dogs when they die. Their sin is to kill for entertainment rather than survival," he said, voice quieting a little bit when they had no choice but to climb up a rock to advance. He continued speaking when Baekhyun jumped down into the sand again. "They have nothing to hunt so they usually hunt each other endlessly here."

 

Baekhyun should be happy that he felt no pain in his ankle when he landed on the ground. Instead, he felt like he was tumbling down even if his stance was as steady as his gaze was on Chanyeol.

 

"And you couldn’t have told me that before?!" he questioned, the astonishment in his voice echoing around them. 

 

He instantly shut his mouth and looked around, worried that he might have made their presence known to any of those hunting dogs.

 

Chanyeol had the decency of looking apologetic when Baekhyun glanced at him again.

 

"Would it have changed anything?" he said, voice not as haughty or proud as usual but still very much prickling Baekhyun’s nerves.

 

"No, but that doesn’t mean you can just drag me anywhere like that without a warning," he spat out with a groan before continuing to walk. Or stomp. His footsteps were a bit too loud but he was too deep into his annoyance to even care, at this point.

 

It took a short moment to hear Chanyeol’s footsteps catching up to him.

 

"Wait," he called out and when Baekhyun looked at him through a glare, his lips were still tugged down but this time, he was holding onto a metal branch he had probably picked off the ground. "Take this. We might need it."

 

Baekhyun examined the rusty branch that looked like a crooked bat. With a sigh, his shoulders slackened. Being angry at Chanyeol was useless. He was right. Whether Baekhyun knew where they were going or not wouldn’t change anything. They would end up going anyway. And Chanyeol looked sorry enough. His hopeful gaze as he held out the bat to Baekhyun as if it was an olive branch made him look nothing less than a sad puppy drenched in blue, even sadder paint.

 

Baekhyun wasn’t sure when had Chanyeol gone from a Schmurf to a puppy in his eyes, but he grabbed the branch. The corners of Chanyeol’s lips twitched up into the sketch of a smile erased too soon.

 

"What about you?" Baekhyun asked with yet another sigh. He didn’t like how the bat felt against the skin of his palm. It would irritate his skin and the prospect of having to use it to defend himself made the irritation internal too. Along with apprehension.

 

Instead of replying, Chanyeol pulled his backpack to the front of his body and pulled at the strings tying an actual bat to his bag. Baekhyun had forgotten about its existence. Chanyeol hadn’t walked steps ahead of him and shown him nothing but his backside in a long time. He didn’t feel bad about forgetting it.

 

Once he was done unstrapping it, Chanyeol hoisted his bag on his shoulders properly again and looked at Baekhyun with a triumphant smile, showing him the bat.

 

Baekhyun snorted and continued walking. A puppy.

 

They were supposed to get water from this place but Baekhyun couldn’t make out anything remotely wet around them. It didn’t take too long, however. Chanyeol seemed to know his way around here. As far as Baekhyun knew, they had never gotten lost, not even once. He wondered if Chanyeol had traced their way mentally over a hundred times before, if he had even adventured around here on his own to actually shape that path in his head before everything started.

 

When the trickle of water first whispered into his ears, Baekhyun had expected a small rusted fountain. What they reached after a few more steps was nothing like that.

 

The melodious trickles soon turned into a lively rush and after climbing a few bigger boulders, it wasn’t sand that spread on the other side. 

 

It was a waterfall, a wide but thin curtain of copper-colored water rushing down in a perfectly, surrealistically uniform layer that folded on rusty but polished rocks. The burnt orange water glided on the black and rusty marble of the rocks like a spilled glass of whisky spreading on the delicate floor of a ballroom. The dance ended in the narrow river that was framed by more marbly boulders and that stretched lengthily on either side of the fall. Baekhyun couldn’t see their ends but he could hear the rush of a water echoing from either side, the hint of more waterfalls spread on the river’s course.

 

"It’s so pretty," Baekhyun muttered in wonder as he watched the water slide down the fall and fold over the long, wide rock that looked like a platform. Not a single drop seemed to jump out of the flow. It was more akin to a spread of silk than water.

 

He heard Chanyeol let out a quiet chuckle beside him.

 

"Yeah," he said and when Baekhyun looked at him he had a faint smile on, gaze focused on the waterfall. "I guess there’s beauty even in the most terrifying of places."

 

He turned to Baekhyun, meeting his gaze with a smile. It was a soft one. As delicate as the satin-soft landing of the waterfall on its marble, but a warmer shade.

 

They climbed down the rocks carefully, fortunately without slipping and crashing either against the  rust or right into the water. It didn’t have a strong current, the flow was rather leisurely but Baekhyun wouldn’t be surprised if some kind of acid was awaiting him in such a strange-colored river.

 

"I have an empty bottle in my bag, can you get it for me?" Chanyeol asked and Baekhyun gave him a questioning look. Why didn’t he get it himself? "I’m holding onto the bat," he replied, seemingly reading Baekhyun’s question in the look he was given.

 

That would’ve sounded mocking or haughty any other time but Baekhyun had seen how agitated Chanyeol had been since the very first step into this placed that was rightfully called the Rusty Rocks. Baekhyun would also probably feel safer if Chanyeol never let go of that bat.

 

With a nod, he stepped closer to Chanyeol who turned around, exposing his backpack to him. Baekhyun tucked the branch the other had given him earlier between his knees, unzipped the bag and rummaged inside without a word. Even from the outside, it looked much emptier than it had on the first day of their journey. They had spent a lot of time together. Baekhyun’s bag contained water, branches and twigs, flashlights, and other utilities but Chanyeol’s bag was much fuller. He had various kitchen knives inside, a lot of snacks and tinfoil-clad sandwiches, ropes, even a pair of shoes, but it was mostly full with small bags. Baekhyun knew these bags had been filled up along their journey.

 

Amidst it all, there was indeed a few empty bottles that they had both drank water from, Baekhyun had both empty and full ones in his own backpack. He grabbed one of the big ones and then zipped the bag up again before giving the empty bottle to Chanyeol.

 

"How are you going to get the water?" he asked as Chanyeol removed the cap with two fingers, the others still holding onto his bat.

 

"I’ll get it from the waterfall," he explained as he looked around them lengthily. He fell silent for a short moment, as if listening, and when he deemed it safe enough, he looked at Baekhyun again. "Keep the cap. I don’t want to risk dropping it."

 

Baekhyun held a hand out to him with a nod. Chanyeol dropped the cap on his palm and after a last look, he turned around and walked towards the boulders framing the river’s bed.

 

Baekhyun followed him, stepping closer to the water and standing right on the edge whereas Chanyeol headed to the side and easily climbed up the rocks. They were relatively low and could be used as stairs towards the waterfall, even if they were uneven-sized, making Chanyeol go up, down, and then up again.

 

As he advanced, Baekhyun crouched down for a closer look at the water. The color was richer from this close, somewhere between melted copper and whisky. It was clear too, Baekhyun could make out the bottom of the river and it didn’t look deep enough for him to drown were he to slip and fall into it. What caught his attention the most, though, was the freckles floating in the water. 

 

It was tiny orange chips, probably pieces of rusted metal, and they seemed to be what gave the water such a rich color, tainting it in burnt orange reflections even though they didn’t really glint. There was not enough light for them to glint in the water but they looked just as polished as the rocks closer to the river. It looked pretty. Like tiny orange petals bathing in water that was a shade lighter than them. Baekhyun had the urge to dip his hand in and collect the rusted metal to examine them further but he didn’t trust it to be a smart decision.

 

Instead, he looked at Chanyeol who had reached the waterfall and was already standing as close to the water as possible, one of his hand holding onto a rock and the bat simultaneously  while the other held the bottle right through the falling water. The water must not be toxic or bad for the skin then. Baekhyun bit his lower lip, dropping his gaze to Chanyeol’s feet. The platform-like rock the water dripped on didn’t look wet —except where the water was— but Baekhyun still felt anguish holding his breath captive. He didn’t want Chanyeol to slip and fall into the river. 

 

That didn’t happen, fortunately. After a while, Chanyeol pulled away from the waterfall, the bottle he was holding now full of the clear, rust-colored water. Baekhyun saw metal chips swirling inside leisurely. He sighed out in relief when Chanyeol made his way on the staircase of rocks again and stood up to walk towards him.

 

Baekhyun handed him the cap when they were close enough.

 

"Done?" he asked, looking at the bottle. It was a bit crunched up from how long it had spent inside Chanyeol’s bag but it was full to the brim.

 

"Done," Chanyeol sighed out, his shoulders slackening when the bottle was sealed. He gave Baekhyun a twitchy smile. Baekhyun was starting to miss his sharp-toothed one. "We should go now."

 

Baekhyun agreed with a nod and they both headed back towards the rocks they had climbed to reach the waterfalls, Chanyeol still holding the bottle.

 

"Is this our last item?" Baekhyun asked as this time, they climbed down the boulders they had climbed up earlier. 

 

Sliding or twisting his ankle again would be very easy as they walked through rocks but Baekhyun was getting the hang of walking in unideal grounds. He was a little proud about it.

 

"We have one last thing left to fetch," Chanyeol replied with a bit of finality in his voice as he raised the bottle and looked at its content. His cheek sank into a dimple as he smiled at it.

 

For a moment, Baekhyun almost lost his footing. He hadn’t expected Chanyeol to actually smile that toothy smile again. It wasn’t directed at him, it was directed at tiny pieces of rusted metal drowning in weird water, but it still made Baekhyun want to smile too. To counter it, he decided to call Chanyeol out on walking without looking ahead of him but before he could so much as part his lips, Chanyeol froze in place.

 

Baekhyun stopped walking as well, confusedly looking at Chanyeol who lowered the bottle and looked at the ground instead. The smile was entirely crashed by a frown now. Baekhyun felt the rust of the metal branch he was holding lick at his skin uncomfortably. Chanyeol’s knuckles turned a shade lighter around his own bat. He felt anguish creeping its way into his stomach again and he parted his lips to let it out through a question, a word, anything, but before he could mutter a single sound, he heard it.

 

A mechanical clicking, an eerily regular pattern of metal clanking against rock. He looked away from Chanyeol and around instead.

 

"Let’s go," Chanyeol urged him before Baekhyun could get a proper look around and this time, Chanyeol was the one to grab his wrist and pull as he started walking.

 

They could only take a few steps forward before they had to stop again, however, and this time the sinister clicking was blended in with the mechanical whizzing of a machine. Chanyeol’s clutch around his wrist was hard, Baekhyun felt his claws digging into his skin. He looked at Chanyeol, took in the tensed twitch of his jaw and the deep frown that didn’t look irritated but concerned, maybe trapped. He was balancing the bat and the bottle in his other hand. This time, when Baekhyun looked around, he saw them.

 

There were three of them. They were advancing towards them slowly, much too slowly for it not to be worrying, much too slowly for Baekhyun to even think they had a chance to run away. If they had, the metal dogs would already be running towards them.

 

But they weren’t. They were slowly approaching and they were doing it in perfect synchronization, their copper paws clicking against the rocks at the same time, a singular clank screeching into Baekhyun’s ears every time. They looked like dogs but at the same time, they looked like nothing but a big metal square supported on four long sticks, a smaller square making up a head. No eyes, no mouth, no ears. Baekhyun didn’t know how they even managed to locate them but they were approaching.

 

Suddenly, Chanyeol let go of his wrist and that was the cue for Baekhyun to start running.

 

They ran side by side, Chanyeol deliberately slowing his pace because the last they had been running away from something, he had been running ahead of Baekhyun. This time, Baekhyun didn’t look behind him as he ran, his hold tight around the metal stick he had been carrying all along. Now that he actually had a reason for carrying it, he wasn’t sure that he’d be able to actually use it.

 

It was difficult to run when rocks and sand were all he could step on, difficult to keep a fast pace, but Baekhyun did his best, his metal stick crashing against the rocks from time to time, dragging on the sand, even clashing against the bottle Chanyeol was holding a few times. Each of those sounds added to the terror chasing him. But he didn’t stop running. Soon, the clicking behind them turned wilder and then, then he knew the dogs were running. Soon, the mechanical whizzing was louder and Chanyeol abruptly stopped, Baekhyun’s momentum carrying him a few steps ahead.

 

Baekhyun was the only one breathless when he turned to give Chanyeol an alarmed look.

 

"Why did you stop running?!" he couldn’t help but scream, too panicked to keep the volume of his voice under control. 

 

"They’ll reach us," Chanyeol said, way too calmly for Baekhyun not to freak our right there.

 

"So what?" he cried, striding towards Chanyeol. He had survived gigantic birds and furry bears. He wouldn’t get killed by eyeless dogs. "Let’s keep running. You said monsters can’t get out of their forests, right? We’re almost out. We can do it. Let’s just run," he argued, already reaching out to grab Chanyeol’s wrist.

 

However, Chanyeol shook his head and stepped out of his reach. Baekhyun easily found the crimson flakes in his eyes but this time, they didn’t feel like an anchor, nor an alarm. He looked into Baekhyun’s eyes for a long breath and unconsciously, Baekhyun shook his head to something Chanyeol hadn’t even voiced out yet.

 

"Leave," he said then, voice almost drowned out by the crazed clacking and humming of the machines. He threw the bottle at Baekhyun who, despite the sudden shut down his mind crumble into, caught it. The bottle crunched against his chest. "I’ll distract them and then join you."

 

Baekhyun shook his head harder. Or maybe it was just the tremors running through his whole body as the dogs continued charging towards them. He couldn’t leave Chanyeol here. Not when Chanyeol hadn’t left him the last time they were in danger.

 

"Just go, Baekhyun," Chanyeol screamed at him, startling Baekhyun who jumped a little bit, still hugging the bottle against his chest tight enough for it to leave an imprint on his body. 

 

Chanyeol pressed his lips together, features slackening but before he could say anything else, he flipped around abruptly and with a sharp movement, hit the dog that was jumping towards him with his bat.

 

A loud metal crash wailed into Baekhyun’s ears and when he looked around, all three dogs were already there, already surrounding Chanyeol who defended himself with his bat, hitting one, avoiding the other, and pushing the third away again and again in a cacophony of metallic sounds and mechanical hums each time the dogs stepped towards him. 

 

Heart punching against his chest, Baekhyun looked away and around him instead. There was nothing but rocks and sand and a cliff on their left. He had seen the same cliff on their way here, not too deep into their venturing in the territory. They weren’t too far from the exit. If he ran, he would reach it soon enough. 

 

Swallowing down, he looked back at Chanyeol, the sharp sounds of his battle as he fought two of the dogs with a single bat slower than Baekhyun’s heart rate. They had no mouth. Baekhyun didn’t know why they were so dangerous if they had no mouth. Baekhyun didn’t know why Chanyeol was there, fighting them off with a frown, sharp teeth sunk into his lower lip as he swirled on himself to hit the two dogs that didn’t even seem affected by the strikes to their head or body. As soon as Chanyeol pushed them back, or made them lose their balance and fall, they just got back to their feet and approached him again as if nothing had happened.

 

Baekhyun didn’t know and yet, when he saw the third dog creeping towards Chanyeol from behind, he chose to run towards him rather than towards the exit.

 

Brandishing his own metal stick with a trembly hand, Baekhyun charged towards the metal dog and fought the urge to squeeze his eyes shut when its head was a hairbreadth away from Chanyeol’s leg. With a sharp but uncoordinated movement he sliced through the air with his stick and let out a shuddery breath when the metal collision of his stick against the dog’s body pushed it away from Chanyeol. The monster clashed against a nearby rock, landing on its back, its four legs sticking up towards the sky.

 

After pushing away the other dogs with continuous hits and counterattacks, Chanyeol turned to look at him. Their eyes met for all but the span of a single breath before the dogs attacked again. This time, they fought side by side. 

 

Baekhyun was still holding onto the bottle with pale fingers, his other hand irritated by the rust on the stick but he didn’t pay attention to it, hitting as hard as he could whenever a dog got too close to him, gritting his teeth at the ear-splitting sound whenever his stick collided with a metal body. They fought only two dogs, Baekhyun hadn’t looked at the other again but he didn’t seem to have left its spot near the rock it had smacked against. 

 

From time to time, his backpack pressed against Chanyeol’s, before one of them charged forward to counter a monster. Baekhyun still had the urge to close his eyes and wait for this to pass but he didn’t. He had to help Chanyeol, that was what he told himself with each hit against tireless dogs, with each cold burn when they pressed against him. He didn’t know what they were trying to do. He didn’t know how he even managed to move when he felt his entire body stretched into tension by fear. He didn’t know how they were planning to kill them but these monsters weren’t giving up.

 

Chanyeol wasn’t giving up either, however. As their battle stretched on, they were slowly moving towards the left. Baekhyun didn’t need to hear it to figure out what Chanyeol was trying to do and he helped, distracting his own opponent as Chanyeol slowly veered the dog towards the cliff. It was difficult to fight with one hand, it made him weaker than he probably was but Baekhyun had no time to stop and shove the bottle into his bag. He couldn’t let go of it either, it was too risky. 

 

It was just when Baekhyun managed to push his opponent away and make it crash against a rock  that Chanyeol seemed to bring his plan to completion. Baekhyun stood there, watching with his heart in his throat and his hands burning from tension as Chanyeol was holding his bat horizontally against the dog’s head, slowly pushing it towards the edge of the cliff. The dog seemed to push back and fight for a while but soon, with sand rising under the scratch of Chanyeol’s shoes against the ground, it finally fell off the edge in a loud clutter.

 

Relief weighed his shoulders down when Chanyeol turned towards him, no scratch on his face or anywhere else. Their eyes met and Chanyeol’s widened almost instantly before Baekhyun felt something collide against his side and he slammed on the ground. The bottle flew off his hand but he held onto his metal branch tightly, although he couldn’t use it with two dogs on top of him, getting all over his face and stabbing pain into his body with their sticky legs.

 

Soon, one of them was pulled off him, Chanyeol standing in front of him as he grabbed the dog and threw it to the side. Baekhyun pushed the other off himself with shaking arms and Chanyeol hit its head with his bat, pulling its attention to himself. Baekhyun scrambled up to his knees, pain shooting through his stomach but not enough to overshadow the panic when he saw the bottle slowly rolling towards the edge of the cliff, bumping over rocks and gliding over sand.

 

Without a single thought, he pushed himself up and ran towards it, tripping on the smaller rocks and slipping on the sandy concrete. The bottle was rolling closer to the edge, the rusty chips in the water swirling, the plastic of the bottle groaning when it hit a bump on the ground before heading towards the very edge and tipping over. Baekhyun threw himself on the ground, stretching his arms until they burned, tipping his upper body over the edge as his gaze followed the bottle as it started falling off before his finger latched on the cap and he grabbed it.

 

As soon as the bottle was secured in his hands, he looked down and finally noticed that half of his body was stretched over the edge and the ground beneath was low enough that what Baekhyun knew to be big boulders appeared as tiny stones. Breathless, he closed his eyes and slowly, carefully hoisted himself up, pulling away from the edge.

 

It was only when he could lay, or rather fall on his back, secure, that he breathed again, the bottled cradled against his chest. His backpack dug on his back uncomfortably but he didn’t mind, he couldn’t mind when relief drenched him whole. However, the clicking of metal paws made him raise his head to look in front of him only for him to squeeze his eyes shut when he saw a metal dog lurching towards him. He felt nothing. He only heart another metal echo and when he opened his eyes, Chanyeol was standing in front of him and holding his hand out to him. Alerted by a scratching sound, Baekhyun looked to his left and saw the dog hanging onto the edge of the cliff, half of its body tipped over as it tried saving itself away from the fall with its his sticky limbs. It took only a few seconds before failure hit and the body dangled down the edge.

 

With a jerky intake of breath, Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol again and grabbed his hand. Chanyeol pulled him up to his feet, holding onto Baekhyun’s hand tight enough for him to once again feel the tips of his caws digging into his skin. Baekhyun didn’t mind. For the first time ever, the sting of it felt like a comforting caress, reassurance. For the first time ever, Baekhyun discerned worry and relief between the crimson flakes in Chanyeol’s irises.

 

Before he could even enjoy the relief and the chill of Chanyeol’s skin, a mechanical hum caught his attention. He looked behind Chanyeol and squeezed the latter’s hand harder when he saw the third dog laying on its back a few steps away. Its sticky limbs suddenly elongated and then bended in half until they touched the ground, giving it the appearance of a spider more than a dog. It would get up again. Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol and their gaze met once before they started running, hands still clasped together.

 

They ran over rocks and sand again, Chanyeol’s pace too fast for Baekhyun who tripped from time to time but never fell and never slowed Chanyeol down either because the eery clicking was back behind them again. They were being chased again and there was only a single dog left but that didn’t make it any less terrifying. The exit of the forest was close. So close. They jumped over rocks, heard mechanical clatters behind them, indicating that the dog probably had a harder time chasing them over rocks than over sand. 

 

Baekhyun didn’t look at Chanyeol, Chanyeol didn’t look at him either, they both kept their eyes stuck in front of them and the exit was close, so close, Baekhyun knew but when the clicking stopped, dread settled in his stomach, creeping through his organs and twisting every single one of them in its grip. Unable to stop himself, he threw a glance over his shoulder and instantly looked ahead again, wide eyes not even actually seeing where he stepped anymore.

 

The creature had stopped running after them. It was standing on a rock far back behind them. It should’ve been reassuring. It wasn’t. It wasn’t, because its head was opened up and a long black stick was pushed out of it, with a bended tip.

 

The first shot came soon after that. Chanyeol tripped when he heard it and Baekhyun let out a sound of fear when he _felt_ the bullet lodging right behind them, on the ground.

 

"It’s shooting at us," he screamed as he pulled on Chanyeol’s hand to keep him from actually falling.

 

Back on his feet and running faster than ever, Chanyeol looked over his shoulder. Baekhyun kept his eyes ahead of him.

 

"Shit," he heard Chanyeol groan before another shot was heard and a metal clunk followed. 

 

A tree. It had lodged inside a tree. Baekhyun didn’t know which tree but he now knew that the monster had a hard time aiming.

 

His legs were burning. He had let go of his metal stick a long time ago, he didn’t even remember when, while Chanyeol was still holding onto his bat. They couldn’t fight the dog. They had to run. 

 

Another shot pierced through the air.

 

"We’re close," Chanyeol grunted, his voice almost too low for Baekhyun to even hear his words.

 

But he couldn’t even focus on his words when he could finally see the metal trees ahead of them lessening as they reached the exit of the forest. A bullet lodged in one of those trees and Baekhyun almost dropped the bottle before pressing it harder against his chest.

 

The dog shot again as they brushed through the last few trees and finally exited the Rusty Rocks. Baekhyun took a stuttering, deep breath in but Chanyeol kept pulling on his hand to continue running. There were three consecutive, snappy shots and then nothing but Baekhyun’s broken breath as they continued running far away from the metal hunter.

 

It was only when Baekhyun’s legs gave out that they stopped. He didn’t know how long they had been running for but he felt his legs shaking even once he crumbled to the ground, throat dry and tight, hand still clutching onto Chanyeol’s. As their hands were still joined together, he had no choice but to follow the movement and sit down beside Baekhyun.

 

Baekhyun closed his eyes and focused on catching his breath. He didn’t know if he was having such a hard time breathing because they had been running for too long or because anxiety still clawed at his stomach. He focused on the claws he could feel holding onto his hand instead, they were much more soothing, and he counted his breaths in his head. 

 

"It’s alright," Chanyeol’s low, steady voice said beside him and Baekhyun took a deep breath in. His voice felt much warmer than his touch but Baekhyun knew it wouldn’t have this effect without the chill of his hand wrapped around Baekhyun’s."It can’t reach us now. It’s okay. We made it."

 

He repeated these words in his head, breathing between each word, regulating the pattern until he had enough air in his lungs to open his eyes again. He met Chanyeol’s gaze, the attentiveness of it along with the concerned furrow of his eyebrows and the worried sinking of his sharp teeth into his lower lip made breathing easier.

 

Until Baekhyun’s gaze trailed over him and his breath ran away again at the gooey humidity transpiring through Chanyeol’s hoodie, right on his shoulder. Baekhyun let go of his hand at once and grabbed his arm to pull him closer, panic making every single one of his movement jerky and too sharp.

 

"You’ve been shot," he said, scrambling on his knees to sit beside Chanyeol to take a look at his shoulder. There was a hole in his hoodie, right next to the backpack’s strap on his shoulder and Baekhyun could see a hint of blue flesh painted purple. "You’ve been shot, Chanyeol," he choked out again as he let go of Chanyeol and dropped his own backpack to the ground.

 

He unzipped it quickly to look for the bandages and the bandaids he knew were inside but Chanyeol grabbed his bag to stop him. Baekhyun looked at him with eyes that blended chunks of alarm and confusion.

 

"What are you doing?" he hissed, pulling the grab closer to him again. "We have to take care of the wound. It’s a bullet."

 

And he didn’t know what kind of bullet either. Maybe it contained some kind of poison. Maybe it was rusted. Maybe Chanyeol would catch an infection and lose his entire arm. Maybe it was already happening and he was also losing his mind and that was why he suddenly let out a breathless laugh.

 

"Why the hell are you laughing?" Baekhyun couldn’t help but hiss with incredulity.

 

Chanyeol shook his head. Baekhyun didn’t know what kind of laugh that was.

 

"I can’t die, Baekhyun. It’s okay," he said, shifting to sit crosslegged in front of Baekhyun properly. He sounded calm, too calm, and maybe even amused. Baekhyun knew that. But still. That wasn’t why he was worried. He knew Chanyeol couldn’t die. Baekhyun caught him wincing a little when he moved his shoulder and the bag’s strap pressed on the wound.

 

"But it hurts," Baekhyun said as he reached to adjust the strap for Chanyeol who looked at him with raised eyebrows.

 

"Not unbearably," he then said, voice a bit softer as he looked away from Baekhyun who could only watch him as he removed his bag from his shoulder and brought it in front of him.

 

"But if we don’t remove the bullet, it’ll hurt until the end of time," Baekhyun mumbled, frowning.

 

Sure, he didn’t know how to remove a bullet but it seemed fairly easy in movies. Chanyeol could even do it himself, probably. But he didn’t seem to care too much about the bullet, instead he grabbed the bottle that Baekhyun had put on the ground and shoved it in his bag, finally securing it.

 

"I don’t want you to remove the bullet," he mumbled, strapping his bat back to the back too before finally looking up at Baekhyun again. He trailed his gaze over Baekhyun who wondered if he too was looking for any scratches or wounds. When his gaze met Baekhyun’s again, it was only shortly, almost as short as the jerk of his lips into a the sketch of a smile. "But thank you. For offering."

 

Baekhyun deflated with a sigh. He brought a hand up to ruffle his hair, fingers sticking into knots. He hadn’t seen himself in days. 

 

"Let me clean it, at least," he compromised because he knew insisting on it wouldn’t do any good.

 

Chanyeol looked at him again and he seemed to be back to his silence. He merely nodded at Baekhyun to give him the permission to proceed.

  
Relieved, Baekhyun rummaged inside his bag for a bottle of water and a little box that he knew contained a few cotton pads. There was no products, Baekhyun knew it would be difficult to get anything of that sort in the Cave and he also knew just water wouldn’t be enough to clean the wound but at least, Chanyeol couldn’t die from an infection.

 

He grabbed a cotton pad from the box and soaked it in a little bit of water before gesturing at Chanyeol to turn around. Chanyeol gazed at the cotton Baekhyun was holding for a bit before yielding and turning his back to Baekhyun who moved closer to him. 

 

He hesitated, looking at the wound he could barely even see through the hole in the hoodie.

 

"Do you want to take off your hoodie?" he ended up asking when Chanyeol grew impatient and threw him a curious look over his shoulder.

 

Baekhyun didn’t have enough time to see his expression before Chanyeol faced away from him again. Baekhyun knew the answer before it even left the other’s mouth.

 

"Just slip your hand in through the collar," Chanyeol said quietly but not enough for Baekhyun not to hear the breath he let out after those words. His breaths were always too loud.

 

Not thrown off by an answer he had expected, Baekhyun nodded to himself. It wouldn’t be the easiest way but he didn’t want Chanyeol to be uncomfortable so he complied. With one hand, he pulled the collar of Chanyeol’s hoodie as much as he could, slipping the other under to reach for the wound with the cotton pad. He heard a hiss from Chanyeol and that was enough for him to know he had landed on his target.

 

Silently, he cleaned the wound as much as he could without really seeing it properly. The first two cotton pads he used were drenched in purple goo almost entirely when he dumped them on the ground after use. He wouldn’t really call it blood, it wasn’t the right texture. Chanyeol also never sweated, never seemed to need to relieve his bladder, so there was no reason for him to have blood either in his body. Baekhyun wasn’t sure what it was that he was cleaning but he did his best.

 

He grabbed a third cotton pad, pouring water on it before slipping it under the collar.

 

"You didn’t have to do that," Chanyeol suddenly said then, startling Baekhyun out of his focus.

 

Biting on his lower lip, he pulled his hand out of the hoodie.

 

"Sorry," he mumbled, "you don’t want me to clean it anymore?"

 

"No," Chanyeol said, shaking his head at the same time for good measure. "I meant the bottle."

 

Baekhyun remained silent as he slipped his hand under the collar and continued cleaning the wound with dabbing motions. Chanyeol hadn’t shown any other sign of pain but Baekhyun still tried to be careful.

 

"What about it?" he asked after a while when silence fell over them again. It wasn’t really awkward. Just heavy. Heavy with untold things Baekhyun wanted to know about but never had the courage to ask.

 

"You can die, you know," Chanyeol answered and Baekhyun didn’t if it was because he wasn’t facing him but Chanyeol’s voice was almost inaudible. He shifted just a little closer to hear him better. "I can’t, but you can. You could’ve fallen off that cliff when you dived in for the bottle or worse, you could’ve been the one shot." 

 

Baekhyun pressed his lips together. Chanyeol was reprimanding him, that was what it sounded like. He wouldn’t do it if he didn’t care even just the slightest bit. He didn’t know why that made him feel so light.

 

"That didn’t even cross my mind," Baekhyun said, honest.

 

It really hadn’t. That he could die or at least, get hurt. All that had been on his mind was that Chanyeol needed that bottle, _they_ needed that bottle.

 

"It was important to you. The bottle," he added when Chanyeol remained silent. "I had to save it."

 

Baekhyun would like to see his face. He wasn’t sure why.

 

"You’re willing to risk your life for someone who ruined yours?"

 

Baekhyun stopped, the cotton pad pressed against the wound. Had Chanyeol really ruined his life?

 

It didn’t really feel like he had. Was his life back in the Above better than his life here? No one bullied him, his father couldn’t reach him, he didn’t have to struggle to keep his grades decent, and he even had half a friend. A entire friend. Baekhyun considered Chanyeol as his friend now, even if he couldn’t tell whether that was mutual or not.

 

He pulled his hand out of Chanyeol’s hoodie. The cotton pad was mostly white, only a few stains of purple here and there.

 

"It was important for you," he said as he gathered all the cotton pads into his hands and then put them in the small bag he kept all his other garbage in. Chanyeol turned around and silently grabbed the bottle of water Baekhyun had used. Baekhyun extended his hands to wash them as Chanyeol poured water on them. "And if you really did ruin my life, then at least we shouldn’t waste it, right?" he said, hoping that the teasing hints in his voice were strong enough for Chanyeol to catch onto them.

 

Maybe they weren’t, because Chanyeol merely pressed his lips together. His dimple peeked on his cheek but Baekhyun wouldn’t call that a smile. He quietly finished washing his hands, glancing at Chanyeol from time to time.

 

It was only when Chanyeol was closing the cap of his bottle that Baekhyun spoke again.

 

"I really hope you’ll get your appearance back," he said with as much sincerity as he could muster. He shook his hands a bit to get rid of the water, drops landing on his legs. He looked at Chanyeol, met his gaze, and smiled faintly. "Really."

 

Chanyeol didn’t say anything, didn’t look away from him either, just gazed at him long enough for Baekhyun to tuck his hands between his thighs and grow fidgety. 

 

Then, he promptly stood up, no more wince on his face, no more dimple either. 

 

"Let’s go," he announced as he grabbed his bag and shoved the bottle inside.

 

Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows while standing up.

 

"Shouldn’t you rest more?" he asked, taken aback by Chanyeol’s sudden urgency.

 

He shook his head. "You needed to rest and you did. We’ll rest more later. We only have one last place to visit."

 

Baekhyun observed him for a moment, trying to figure out if he had said something that had thrown Chanyeol off.

 

He didn’t seem upset though, so he let it go and grabbed his own backpack.

 

They only had one last destination left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun should’ve known that their last destination would be another forest.

 

And yet, he couldn’t even be disappointed when every forest in here was different and especially this one. It was just as eery as the others, just as densely packed with trees as the others, the only difference being that when Baekhyun had leaned against one to adjust his shoe a little, his hand had passed right through the tree and he had almost fallen down.

 

Chanyeol had said nothing, it was still silent, still tensed up, even more than before, enough for Baekhyun to catch a slight irritation about it and stubbornly refuse to ask where they were exactly. He didn’t really need Chanyeol to say it in order to figure out that these trees were either some kind of holograms or plain ghosts. Baekhyun wasn’t sure how a tree could even have a ghost but he made sure not to touch any of them ever again.

 

Instead, he focused on glaring at the back of Chanyeol’s head. He was once again walking a few steps ahead of Baekhyun. That was annoying. It made Baekhyun feel like they had taken a step back after taking two steps forward. They always did. They had been walking for days on end until now and it still didn’t feel like enough.

 

Moreover, it was a good thing that Chanyeol was walking ahead of him. The ground of this forest wasn’t easy to walk on, soil turned to mud in some spots and the same mud turned into puddles of water that Baekhyun couldn’t even explain the presence of. It never rained in the Cave, there was no weather. At least, he could walk on Chanyeol’s steps and avoid muddying his shoes or wetting them.

 

Soon, the mud and puddles stopped to give way for dry soil but before Baekhyun could even taste the relief, he noticed that they were approaching a river. Chanyeol stopped on its edge and Baekhyun stepped to stand next to him, taking in the odd white tint of the water. At times, it looked just like normal water, no real color, just transparency, but then there would be a ripple that reflected in white and Baekhyun found it much more worrisome than the river back in the Rusted Rocks.

 

"Do we have to cross the river?" Baekhyun asked, turning to Chanyeol who quietly stared into the water. 

 

In itself, this place wasn’t really as threatening as other places they had visited before. To some extent, Baekhyun could even call it interesting. Beautiful, just a  little bit. Maybe it was the fact that the darkness around them didn’t seem as thick as in any other forest, probably because the trees weren’t real, hard trees that kept light away from the place. There was not a single sound around them but it wasn’t completely deserted either. Dust-like fluorescent particles were floating in the air, maybe fireflies, or maybe the ghost or the soul of them. It added a gentle green tint to the water, whenever one of those gleaming orbs got too close to it, mixing in with the smoky streaks of white.

 

One of those orbs passed right in front of him in a leisurely pace, just like dust hanging in the air, undisrupted, and Baekhyun reached out with his hand, closing his fist around the gleam to catch it, out of curiosity. When he opened his hand again, there was nothing resting on his palm. 

 

"We do," Chanyeol finally replied. Baekhyun looked at him again, meeting nothing but his side-profile. He hadn’t looked at Baekhyun even once. He had the sudden urge to push him into the water. Maybe that would help Chanyeol get back to his senses and decide once and for all whether he wanted Baekhyun to be his friend or not. "But it won’t take too long, don’t worry," was all Chanyeol added before stepping into the water.

 

For a fleeting moment, Baekhyun expected something to jump out and latch onto his leg or worse, his feet to sink in deep before the rest of his body followed. None of that happened. Chanyeol merely winced when both his feet were in the water, the river reaching up to his ankles. Once he deemed it safe enough, Baekhyun followed, stepping into the water.

 

It wasn’t cold. It wasn’t warm either, it barely even felt like water although his jeans and shoe were wet when he pulled a feet up to check. Walking in wet shoes would be uncomfortable. With a sigh, he followed Chanyeol when he started walking.

 

The river wasn’t that wide but it was definitely not as narrow as the river in the Rusted Rocks or any other river Baekhyun had seen in his life. It would take more than a few steps to cross to the other side but at least, there _was_ an other side.

 

Baekhyun looked around as they walked, slowly and carefully in order not to slip, and only then he noticed that a lot of those fluorescent particles were following them. Or him, because a few steps in front of him, Chanyeol had no gleams around him. He didn’t particularly mind. They weren’t even real and he couldn’t touch them so they probably couldn’t touch him either. The only thing that made him feel a tad uneasy was that the water didn’t splash as they walked but seemed to be deepening bit by bit, until it soon reached halfway up his shins.

 

As if they could sense his discomfort, a few tiny orbs gathered in front of him, floating in a group that soon narrowed until all that was left of it was one single, bigger orb. The color was denser this way, a soft, faded, but luminescent green that made Baekhyun smile a little. It was almost reassuring and with the hope of actually being able to touch the orb, he reached out with a hand.

 

However, before he could even close his hand around the orb, it suddenly broke apart into those tiny particles again and flickered irregularly a few times before abruptly disappearing. Taken aback, Baekhyun blinked, his eyes a bit destabilized by the sudden lack of green gleams in front of them. He stopped walking and looked around him. Chanyeol was standing a few steps away, not walking either. There was not a single fluorescent light around anymore.

 

He stepped closer to Chanyeol, a question on his lips. It died there.

 

Before he had the occasion to utter a single word, he felt something in the air shift. It started small, just vibrations, _ripples_ around him and then chill breezes around his feet. As if the air was water and the water was air.

 

And then, water surged into the air. Or rather, the air rippled and gleamed like waves under moonlight, on his left, on his right, and then on a few spots in front of him, the light intensifying enough for Baekhyun to close his eyes. Chanyeol didn’t budge, didn’t wince, probably didn’t even close his eyes.

 

When he opened his eyes again, it wasn’t to vibrating air, but to ghostly figures hovering over the river. Men and women were all around them, skin pale, void of any color, of any light, hair long and floating behind them as if they were laying on water and not floating above it. They were dressed in white robes, no other color. Just white, pristine robes with long sleeves and a long cut, the fabric glowing faintly as it fell over their body and hid their feet, almost caressing the water beneath them. 

 

Baekhyun felt their piercing gazes cutting his breath off, like twirling smoke bunching inside his throat and watering his lungs.

 

One of them advanced towards them, floating, slowly, leisurely, much too graciously for Baekhyun not to feel shudders prickling his entire body.

 

It was a man, with a long beard, a touch of black cutting over the stainless white of his chest. His gaze felt cold as it trailed down Baekhyun’s body, down to his feet. It still felt just as cold when he looked at Chanyeol’s feet after his.

 

Then, every other floating being narrowed in on them, circling them, stealing the breath away from Baekhyun’s surroundings.

 

"The Haunted Waters do not welcome you," the man, the ghost who had examined them said, his voice human yet rumbly, falling upon Baekhyun like a death sentence.

 

When they all moved closer again, at once, it wasn’t with grace, but with a strident, inhuman screech.


	10. Chapter Nine

Baekhyun should’ve been happy.

 

He should’ve been happy and relieved to finally meet people who looked human enough or at least, looked like they could still use their mind and had not lost all of it to their monstrosity. He hadn’t talked to anyone else except for Chanyeol in days, maybe a week, maybe two, and it wouldn’t be a lie to say that he had even started missing the horrifying features of the monsters back in the Town. It was kind of suffocating to see and talk to just the same person for days on end. He should’ve been happy to finally encounter people who visibly could talk _and_ didn’t look like an animal or a costume straight out of a horror movie.

 

And yet, as he felt cold, weightless hands holding onto his arms after tying his wrists together, Baekhyun wished he had never encountered these ghosts. And Chanyeol. At that moment, he couldn’t help but wish that he had never encountered Chanyeol.

 

Monsters, Baekhyun could do. Trees with big wailing mouths, electric gingerbread men, metal dogs with guns, all of that, Baekhyun could do. They had no proper mind, no humanity, but these ghosts, they could speak like human beings, could hold him like human beings, and their entire existence was something halfway between a human being and a soul.

 

He didn’t even know how they could touch him but they’d been walking for a while now, after all eight of these ghosts had circled them and, in swift movements, tied both his and Chanyeol’s hands without even dipping their feet into the water once. They’d been dragged out of the water, Baekhyun’s fear silent but strong enough for him not to even feel his chest the whole time the bearded ghost — who seemed to be some kind of leader — had grabbed him and pulled him out of the water and _up_ instead. Baekhyun’s voice had never sounded so scared to his own ears as it had when the ghost made him hover over the river and dragged him to the other side, only letting him go once grass and mud was under his feet.

 

Two other ghosts had been stuck to him the whole time since then, as they all walked silently, Baekhyun not daring to open his mouth. He didn’t know where they were going. No one had pronounced a single word. Not even Chanyeol.

 

Baekhyun glanced at him over his shoulder, meeting his gaze for a short moment before the ghost holding onto his right arm pulled at it and he faced forward again, gulping down either a whimper or an annoyed groan. He felt both fear and irritation at equal levels. Fear because he was being abducted by ghosts and irritation because when he had looked behind him, Chanyeol still didn’t look half as frightened as Baekhyun was sure he looked.

 

He hadn’t looked scared even once. He hadn’t pronounced a single word back at the river, not a single protest, and now, as they headed to a dreadfully unknown place, he still looked nonchalant, gaze straight ahead, no concern or panic in his eyes even if two ghosts were holding onto him the same way Baekhyun was being held. He didn’t understand. He should at least look regretful. For dragging Baekhyun into yet another twisted, dangerous situation. He didn’t. 

 

He shouldn’t be so calm about this. They could be taken as prisoners or slaves or worse. Baekhyun didn’t know how ghosts worked but he knew he could die. Chanyeol knew it just as well and he didn’t look remotely disturbed by the fact that they were being kidnapped by ghosts whose fingers Baekhyun couldn’t even feel on his body. He didn’t understand why Chanyeol was so calm about this and with each stepped taken forward amidst mud, grass, and ghost trees, Baekhyun felt anger taking over. 

 

Just a while ago, Chanyeol had reprimanded him for putting his life into danger just to grab that rusted water bottle and now, Baekhyun was walking in front of him, dragged around by ghosts, and he didn’t utter a single word. They hadn’t even fought. There was no reason for Chanyeol to suddenly hate him and stop caring about him. Because that was what Baekhyun had understood from the Rusted Rocks and the metal dogs. Chanyeol cared about him. At least about his safety. This was getting on his nerves.

 

With a deep breath that failed to calm him down, Baekhyun looked down at his hands. They were tied with what looked like vines. They were actual vines, stripes of verdure, not ghostly, of course. They didn’t hurt but they were tight around his wrists. Baekhyun really didn’t know why these ghosts had felt the necessity to tie them up when they could very obviously fly and catch him if he ever had the stupid idea to try and outrun them.

 

"Watch where you step," he heard from beside him and when he glanced at the ghost holding onto his left arm, all he could see was her long hair before his foot caught on something and he stumbled a little.

Fortunately the ghost on his right pulled him back up before he even had the occasion to trip properly and make everything worse than it already was. This was Chanyeol’s fault. It always was. He had gotten distracted by the growing irritation he nurtured for the other. Endlessly, it seemed.

 

Cursing himself inwardly, he looked up at the male ghost. 

 

"Thanks," he muttered when the being met his gaze, voice so low that he wasn’t even sure he had been heard. His eyes were dark, so dark. Baekhyun hadn’t met dark eyes in so long. He was used to red now.

 

The bearded ghost, on the other hand, seemed to have heard him perfectly.

 

"It would be a shame to get hurt when we’re so near," he spoke up from where he was walking, a few steps ahead of them. He didn’t even turn around and look at Baekhyun to address him.

 

And it didn’t matter because when Baekhyun looked ahead of him, it wasn’t the ghost that he saw, but the imposing façade of a tall castle. It was close. Too close for something that hadn’t been there only a few seconds ago.

 

While Baekhyun remembered the Queen’s castle to be entirely black on the outside, the castle erected in front of him was the entire opposite, a clear, pristine color that Baekhyun couldn’t even qualify. It was a white but not a pure white, he could see icy, blue reflections on it, the spires a darker shade of the same unqualified color. It looked like a mirror, but it wasn’t reflective. It could be ice but Baekhyun knew ice didn’t look as thin as the castle’s surface did. It didn’t look solid either, the blurriness draped over the tall, broad towers almost seemed to flutter, as if it was a coat of smoke. As if the entire castle was made out of steam and could disappear at any moment.

 

Baekhyun felt incredibly insignificant and small as they approached the intimidating doors. They probably opened up into a courtyard, two doors that looked heavier the closer they got to them. There was no handle. Nothing to open them up. Baekhyun paid more attention to the surface as they steadily advanced and now, he could tell that the castle wasn’t made out of smoke but indeed a solid material he had never seen before, a material that look sturdy yet weak at the same time due to the thin layer of smoke that clung all to its entirety.

 

When he looked down at the doors again, they were only a few steps away. There was no one in front of them to open the doors and there was no sound indicating a presence behind them either. Baekhyun looked straight at the gate in anticipation, wondering how they would open up. 

 

They never opened. Instead, Baekhyun watched with widened eyes as the ghost leading the march never stopped walking and headed directly towards the doors only to pass right through them, disappearing on the other side.

 

Of course, Baekhyun thought, _ghosts_.

 

However, when the two ghosts holding onto him kept pulling him ahead, the faint sense of wonder he had felt at the sight of a ghost passing through a hard surface faded right away. They weren’t stopping and the doors were nearing. Baekhyun looked at the male ghost, lips parting for a few silent breaths before he could manage to utter a word.

 

"I’m not a ghost," he said stupidly, his ability to speak coherent sentences rendered even more dysfunctional than usual when apprehension clawed at his stomach.

 

The ghost snorted, not sparing him a single glance. Baekhyun snapped his head to the other side, looking at the female ghost whose features seemed to be sculpted into stone. She hadn’t spoken or twitched a single facial feature until now. Helpless, he tried to stop walking, pressing his feet hard on the ground so they couldn’t pull him forward. As if nothing happened, they both continued dragging him towards the door and it became clear that Baekhyun would have no choice but to smash his face against a surface he couldn’t even name.

 

When only a step bordered him away from the pain he would inevitably fall victim to, Baekhyun squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his jaw, bracing himself for what was to come and cutting his own breath off in fear.

 

Nothing happened. He took a deep breath in and opened his eyes again, blinking them in disorientation when he found himself walking not amidst ghost trees and muddy grounds but a clear, pristine floor and furnitures that were strikingly similar to those back in the Queen’s castle.

 

He had passed through the door. He looked down at himself, at his tied hands, his intact chest, and his muddy shoes. He had passed through the door like the ghost had. He was still walking ahead of them and Baekhyun took another shivery breath in, inhaling cold air in hope for it to soothe the wild beat of his heart. He didn’t try to understand. Maybe the doors were made of the same material as the ghost trees. Maybe his physical contact with the ghosts allowed him to pass through like they did. He didn’t know. It didn’t matter.

 

He chanced a quick glance over his shoulder catching the blue and silver of Chanyeol before immediately looking in front of him again to avoid being reprimanded. It was annoying how relieving it was that Chanyeol was still being escorted behind him. He looked around, taking in the insides of a glassy, faded castle that was much more lively than the last one he had stepped into. 

 

There were people everywhere. All of them were dressed in white robes, similar to those of the ghosts escorting them, all of them had long hair, a few women wearing them in a bun or a ponytail that most men were sporting too, albeit some of them had long facial hair to go along. A few ghosts turned to glance at them but fortunately, no one looked at him for too long or said anything.

 

The furnitures were as mismatched as they had been in the Queen’s castle but they were much less extravagant, no gold or ornaments, just plainer things such as comfortable-looking sofas he could see children lounging on, long white curtains concealing windows, and long tables scattered around along with toys and books. The walls were decorated but only with dozens, maybe hundreds of pictures. A few ghosts were standing in front of them, observing, Baekhyun noted the smiles and the sorrowful expression most of them had on as they focused on a few particular pictures. He wondered if they knew the people displayed on the pictures.

 

Soon, they reached another set of doors and this time, there were two ghosts standing in front of them. Baekhyun was grateful that he wouldn’t have to fear hitting his face against another door only to pass right through it. The leading ghost stopped and conversed with them in a hushed done for a short moment before the two ghosts stepped away and opened the doors into what Baekhyun feared to be a throne room. There was no castle without a Ruler.

 

He was pushed inside with a harsh movement when he hesitated and the first thing that he noticed was the lone, wooden chair sitting on an elevated but considerably low platform, a short staircase leading to it.There was a red cushion laying on it, probably to make the wood more comfortable, but no one was sitting on it. Baekhyun didn’t have to wonder where the Ruler was because he was right behind the chair, standing and facing away from them, looking out of the tall windows that served as a clear wall, opening into a yellowish sky and verdure that Baekhyun couldn’t see properly from where he was standing.

 

He felt someone push him again and it was only once they stood a few steps away from the stairs leading to the throne that they all stopped, Chanyeol pushed to stand next to him as the ghosts let go of his arms. He hadn’t even felt their hold on him for a single moment but as soon as they stepped away, Baekhyun felt himself deflating in relief.

 

Anticipation was stronger, however, as he never strayed his gaze away from the figure facing away from them. From the broadness of the shoulders, Baekhyun figured it was a man. A man who had long hair, just as silky as everyone else he had seen —oddly— and who wore the top half of it in a bun, the rest falling down his back and reaching his waist. His hair was longer than everyone else’s but he was wearing similar clothes, just as white and plain as everyone else. Baekhyun wasn’t sure this person was the owner of this castle, not until he turned around at least.

 

At once, all eight of the ghosts who had escorted them here bowed, not curtsying like Baekhyun had seen people do in the Queen’s castle but bowing properly, traditionally. He glanced at Chanyeol who remained standing and chose not to bow either, even if it made him feel uncomfortable to be the only one standing besides Chanyeol and the man who was now facing them. 

 

For a short moment, all he did was look at them, his gaze drifting from Baekhyun to Chanyeol. His features weren’t particularly intimidating but Baekhyun still couldn’t find the courage to meet his gaze, looking down at his feet as soon as he turned his gaze towards him. He heard footsteps then, white robes soon coming into view as he stood directly in front of Baekhyun.

 

"You can rise," Baekhyun heard, words pronounced with a gentle, steady voice. The sound of it flashed an image of the river from earlier in his mind. Calm, clear, yet flowing with the purity of white reflections.

 

"We found them in the Waters, Your Highness," someone spoke out behind him and Baekhyun recognized the voice of the bearded ghost. "They’re not ghosts. The Waters didn’t welcome them."

 

Baekhyun didn’t understand what the ghost meant by that. He chanced a glance at Chanyeol, beside him. He was looking straight at who now was sure to be the King, no trace of hesitancy or fear on his features. Baekhyun felt the familiar prickles of irritation sharpening his gaze into a glare as he stared at Chanyeol for a moment, until he heard a breezy chuckle. He snapped his gaze ahead of him again and met the King’s smile. The fear of having offended him somehow made his next intake of breath jittery but the King said nothing, smile not morphing into a snare, only widening until a shadow dipped into his cheek. A dimple.

 

He turned away from Baekhyun and stepped towards Chanyeol instead, standing in front of him and still observing him, his hands laced together behind him. Baekhyun watched, gaze constantly snapping between Chanyeol and the King, anticipation clogging in his stomach. He looked kind. He was the kindest-looking man Baekhyun had encountered in the Cave, with his slow, silent steps, his long shiny hair, and the dimple peacefully accompanying his long lasting smile, but Baekhyun wasn’t sure he should trust appearances anymore.

 

"What brings you here?" he finally spoke, directing his question at Chanyeol. The smile was gone now but the calm on his features seemed to be permanent. It would be soothing if Baekhyun hadn’t already encountered a snappy queen who smiled wide but spilled nothing but madness out of her mouth. Maybe this man was similar. Maybe he was smiling at them only to throw them in some kind of cell afterwards.

 

Then, he saw a smile hesitantly stretching on Chanyeol’s face. An apologetic one.

 

"I apologize, Your Highness," Chanyeol said and Baekhyun to restrain himself from widening his eyes when he suddenly bowed for a short moment before straightening again, an apology still on his face. What was he doing? "I’m named Chanyeol and he’s Baekhyun," Chanyeol gestured towards him, the King’s gaze darting to him once before focusing back on Chanyeol. "We got lost on our way back to Queen Seulgi’s castle. We were returning from an errand."

 

Baekhyun nervously pressed his lips together as he looked at the King. It wasn’t surprising that Chanyeol had to lie. Baekhyun could understand the refusal to share the fact that they were on a journey to a certain Skull Man.

 

"What kind of errand?" the King asked, tilting his head as his features gathered into a frown. It was only a faint one, however and Baekhyun wasn’t really sure what it was on the other’s face that indicated it was more of concern than anger but that was the impression he had.

 

Chanyeol pressed his lips together for a bit before replying with an hesitant voice. 

 

"She wanted us to count the metal dogs."

 

That didn’t make sense. Baekhyun could see Chanyeol was putting some kind of act, he had never seen that expression on Chanyeol and it didn’t even fit him, but even an act _had_ to make some sense. It wasn’t the case now. Why would the Queen ever ask them to count the dogs? Was that even possible?

 

A snort shook the King’s shoulders, pulling Baekhyun attention back to him. He braced himself for an accusation or mockery, heart in his throat.

 

"That’s very characteristic of such a cruel Ruler," the King said, voice dropping to a lower tone as he looked away from them and shook his head. When his gaze glided to Baekhyun again, his soft features were disturbed by a small frown. "I hope nothing too bad happened to you. You seem to have been traveling for quite some time."

 

Baekhyun looked down at himself, at his dirty hoodie that was now grey instead of the black it had been on the first day he had pulled it on himself. There were a few holes on the knee area of his jeans, holes that the Rusted Rocks had dug into his clothes, and his hands were stained green from the gooey leaves, brown from the sand, and there was even dirt locked underneath his nails.

 

Embarrassment flared in his hands, making him curl them together. He hadn’t seen his face in days but it probably looked much worse than the rest of his body.

 

"You can untie their hands now," the King said, pulling Baekhyun’s attention back to him. He was staring at Baekhyun’s hands, frowning at the vines tying them together. He seemed to have interpreted Baekhyun’s reaction wrong. "They’re not dangerous, just travelers."

 

At once, two ghosts stepped forward and untied both his and Chanyeol’s hands. Baekhyun let out a relieved breath as he wrapped a hand around his wrist and rubbed at the reddened, tender skin.

 

"It must be painful, I apologize," the King said, bowing a little at Chanyeol who had the same reaction as Baekhyun. Chanyeol shook his head and returned the bow. The King smiled at him when he straightened his back. "You’re welcome to the Haunted Waters. You might not have heard about me that much but I’m Yixing," he introduced himself with a nonchalant air. "Your Queen probably doesn’t like talking about other Rulers," he added with a tinkling chuckle.

 

Yixing. That was all the _King_ introduced himself with. No long title, no one to announce said long title. Nothing but a reassuring smile.

 

"Thank you, Your Highness," Chanyeol said from besides him, bowing a little again. This time, Baekhyun mimicked him. "Actually," Chanyeol started when they both straightened again, looking at the King hesitantly. "I was shot by one of them."

 

"Oh no," Yixing lamented softly, stepping closer to Chanyeol to examine him. His gaze fell to the blood stains on Chanyeol’s shoulder and he tugged his lips down. His hands were still laced behind his back. "We’ll tend to you. You’re our guests now."

 

Then, he looked at Baekhyun who didn’t avoid his gaze this time. There was nothing intimidating about this person - this ghost. He approached Baekhyun, tilting his head again as he stood in front of him.

 

"You’re not a soul," he said, didn’t even ask.

 

Baekhyun glanced at Chanyeol, shoulders stiff. Chanyeol didn’t say or gesture anything, simply looking back at him. Of course, Chanyeol wouldn’t help. Baekhyun let out a long breath and swore he saw the corner of Chanyeol’s lip twitch like it always did whenever he tried stopping a smile. Always an amused one.

 

Baekhyun focused back on Yixing.

 

"No, I’m not," he said, surprising himself when his voice sounded low but not frightened. The simmers of irritation occupying his stomach probably helped.

 

Yixing leaned even closer now and Baekhyun felt discomfort rising on every single feature he observed on his face. Along with fear. This was a King, no matter how kind he might look.

 

"Human?" was all he asked as he leaned away again, gaze still steady on Baekhyun’s face. Baekhyun let out a breath when he stepped back.

 

"Yes, Your Highness," he answered and this time, the beat of his apprehensive heart was louder than his voice.

 

Yixing hummed and Baekhyun grew fidgety under the weight of his gaze but didn’t look away, just because he wanted to see every single one of his moves. Just in case.

 

"What’s a human doing in the Cave?" he questioned and Baekhyun parted his lips but no sound escaped him. He had no answer to give. Or rather, he wasn’t sure his answer was supposed to be given.

 

"He fell in through  one of the Whistling Portals," Chanyeol replied before the King could suspect anything and despite feeling relief flooding and seeping between his fingers to relax them, Baekhyun didn’t look at him. Out of spite.

 

A sigh rose from the King’s mouth and he shook his head again.

 

"I knew those portals would be a mistake."

 

Baekhyun noted that there seemed to be some kind of discord between him and the Queen Seulgi. He wondered if there was any other Ruler in the Cave. 

 

"Well, you both seem very tired," Yixing said and the lighthearted smile was back on his face again. "You wouldn’t mind being our guests for a while, would you? We’ll take care of you until you’re apt to resume your journey."

 

Unsure, Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol only to see him kneeling down in a  deep bow that he scrambled to imitate. 

 

"Thank you, Your Highness," came Chanyeol’s muffled voice and Baekhyun turned his head the slightest to look at him from the corner of his eye.

 

Why hadn’t Chanyeol even hesitated? Weren’t they supposed to go somewhere else? This place could be their last destination but how were they supposed to get whatever they needed if they had to stay here? 

 

"It’s alright, it’s a pleasure," the King spoke and when Baekhyun heard the rustling of clothes, he rose along with Chanyeol, meeting the King’s reassuring gaze.

 

Although, he didn’t understand their sudden change in plans, Baekhyun wouldn’t reject the possibility of resting properly for a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun’s first reaction to seeing a bed after what felt like an entire lifetime was the incredible urge to just throw himself on the huge, queen sized mattress and bury himself under the warm-looking blankets and pillows.

 

That wasn’t what he had done, however. He couldn’t, not when there was a short, young-looking ghost trailing behind him as he gave him instructions to reach the bathroom linked to the bedroom. Both he and Chanyeol had been given separate rooms, Chanyeol’s was probably down the hallway since Baekhyun had entered his room first and the other continued walking, escorted by another ghost.

 

It hadn’t been difficult to figure out that these ghosts were actually some kind of servants, especially when the one in his company started filling a basin of water and preparing everything Baekhyun would need for his bath. Unsure whether the ghost had been given instructions to watch over him or not, Baekhyun took his clothes off, slowed down by self-consciousness. The ghost had collected them and then asked Baekhyun if he would like him to help with the bath. Baekhyun had been quick to shake his head and tell the ghost he could bathe on his own. It had taken a bit of insisting and reassuring but he had eventually convinced the ghost to leave him on his own and attend his other duties.

 

Baekhyun didn't even want to imagine someone scrubbing his back or anything like that. He had enjoyed his bath extremely well on his own, closing his eyes for a long moment just to enjoy the sensation of ripples around his body, warm and welcoming. The impression of cleanness once he had been done rubbing his scalp and scrubbing his skin  was the heavenliest thing Baekhyun had tasted in this world.

 

The ghost from earlier had prepared white robes for him before leaving, similar to what everyone else was wearing, and the fabric felt light against his skin as Baekhyun _finally_ dropped himself on the bed face first.

 

He heaved out a long sigh of contentment, rubbing his cheek and his arms against the cold bedsheets. It was refreshing. Being clean, wearing clean clothes, and laying on a bed. With another sigh, he turned around, the thread that kept his clothes together loosening a little bit at the stretch. He didn’t mind, he laid on his back and closed his eyes, head cradled by a puffy pillow. It was silent all around him, no footsteps, no ghost screeching, no children laughing even if Baekhyun expected to hear them. There was nothing. No loud, forced breathing pattern.

 

He fluttered his eyes open, eyelids heavy as if they too wanted to enjoy the comfort of a bed and remain closed for a few hours, maybe a whole day. He took a deep breath in, letting out a a sound of contentment. He was alone.

 

It was the first time he was alone since a very, very long time. Chanyeol wasn’t with him. Baekhyun didn’t have to keep himself from looking at him just because the irritation flared with each patch of blue skin and silver hair his eyes caught. No mocking words, brooding presence, or mundane yet special conversation either. He was alone. He rested a hand on his chest, fingers grabbing the fabric of his robes.

 

He wondered what Chanyeol was doing. It felt weird not to look next to him and find the answer to his question. He turned to lay on his side instead, wet strands of hair sticking to his forehead. He wondered if they had taken the bullet out already. There was probably someone more competent than Baekhyun that Chanyeol would allow to deal with his wound. He turned to lay on his other side, gathering his hands against his chest. Maybe wounds healed faster on monsters. Or slower. He wasn’t sure. At least, he knew that Chanyeol wouldn’t die from that wound. Baekhyun wasn’t even surprised when that came as a relief, even when he was supposed to be annoyed with Chanyeol. He was too kind for his own good, especially to Chanyeol.

 

He sighed and, uncomfortable, turned to lay on his back instead, frowning. The bed was comfortable but he couldn’t feel at ease laying on it. 

 

He wasn’t sure when he would see Chanyeol again. He wasn’t sure Chanyeol wanted to see him again. He probably did. But Baekhyun was sure there would still be that concrete silence between them. He didn’t care. He had done his best, put enough effort into this. He couldn’t build a friendship or at least a civil relationship by himself. Chanyeol had to work on it too and Baekhyun was tired of trying his hardest when Chanyeol’s mood swings made everything obviously seem one-sided.

 

Closing his eyes, he forced himself not to think about it any longer and tried sleeping. He hadn’t been told to get out of his room and meet anyone so he might as well just try and get some rest. He didn’t even know how long they would be staying here but he was determined to savor every single second he could spend in this bed.

 

However, not more than a few relaxed breaths after he closed his eyes, a loud knock startled him. He sat up and looked at the door, heavy eyes open wide. It could be Chanyeol. Baekhyun dragged his legs towards the edge of the bed and tightened his clothes, adjusting them properly. For a moment, he had half the urge to act as if he was asleep just so Chanyeol would leave him alone but then, someone knocked on the door again and Baekhyun stood up, leaving the bed with regret. That might not be Chanyeol. He had a feeling Chanyeol would’ve barged in instead of knocking a second time. Or knocking at all.

 

Apprehension curled up in his stomach, Baekhyun went to open the door and wished he had actually went on with his idea of faking slumber when he actually opened the door. The King still had his comfortable smile on, dimple still resting on his cheek lovelily, but Baekhyun felt incredibly small and _unsafe_ now that he was standing in front of a Ruler.

 

"Your Highness," he said, voice shuddering once it was let out. He tried formulating something else but it didn’t work, nothing else left his mouth. Rather used to it, Baekhyun pressed his lips together, trying to ignore the worrisome run of his heart in his chest and keep the fear away from his face.

 

The King didn’t look like he was here to kill him or take him away to lock him in some kind of cell, but Baekhyun had watched enough movies and video games to know that the kindest-looking Kings always ended up being backstabbers.

 

"Sorry to disturb you," Yixing spoke out, his steady, soft voice a complete contrast to Baekhyun’s choked one. His smile turned a bit embarrassed, maybe apologetic. "I seem to have startled you. I just wanted to check if you were comfortable in your room."

 

Baekhyun was torn between the unsurprising confirmation that his attempt at not looking scared was a failure and the surprising fact that a King was standing in front of him, asking him if the room he had been generously given was comfortable. A room that was bigger than the kitchen and the living room combined back in his father’s house.

 

Yixing tilted his head again, which seemed to be a habit of his, his long hair fluttering against his shoulder, and Baekhyun realizing that he had probably been staring at him silently for far too long. He looked away and down at his feet instead, his grip on the door’s handle tight yet damp.

 

"Yes. Yes, thank you," he scrambled to say, although he was grateful that this time, his voice was neither suffocated nor trembly, just probably nervous. "It’s very comfortable. I could never thank you enough for your generosity, Your Highness. Thank you for accepting to take us in."

 

"It’s alright," Yixing said with a laugh and Baekhyun saw him waving his hands in front of him as if to dismiss his repeated word of gratefulness. He looked up at him again, unable to return his smile but still grateful that it looked like a genuine one, at this point. "You seemed to need a place to stay in and," he leaned closer to Baekhyun a little bit, "you looked like you were about to kill your blue friend if you stayed together any longer."

 

Baekhyun stood frozen until Yixing straightened his back again and put more distance between them. Only then did he guffaw, a sound of nervousness more than amusement. The King’s smile expanded, his eyes crescents shining over his dimple.

 

"Yeah," he said, shaking his head and letting out another laugh. This one was a bit more relaxed and genuine. He truly didn’t look like a mean person. Or a malicious ghost. But something still felt uncomfortable in his stomach so he spoke out again. "Chanyeol. That’s his name," he corrected the King with an hesitant voice. When given no trace of anger or offense, he continued. "He can be a lot to handle sometimes."

 

He wasn’t sure why the appellation _blue friend_ didn’t sit well with him. Probably because they weren’t friends.

 

Yixing shrugged, hands disappearing behind his back again.

 

"Well, I hope you’ll enjoy your little break here then. Both from your journey and Chanyeol," he said and Baekhyun smiled a little at the considerate use of Chanyeol’s name. "May I come in?"

 

The smile was wiped off by incredulity at those words. The nervousness still lingered on but it was only faint, lessened by how _normal_ the King acted with him.

 

"This is your castle, Your Highness. You don’t need my permission," he said, instantly stepping back and opening the door wider for the other to step in.

 

"It’s not really my castle," Yixing laughed as he stepped in with a grateful nod.

 

The room was wide and Baekhyun could’ve stayed standing right in front of the door or besides the curtained window or the mahogany vanity but instead, he chose to follow the King, standing a few steps away from him, in the middle of the room.

 

He turned to Baekhyun and gestured him to sit on the bed. Baekhyun did so, not only because he felt like he had to follow a king’s orders but also because the bed was comfortable, after all. Yixing stepped to stand in front of him, a short but polite distance away.

 

"But you’re the King," Baekhyun couldn’t help but say, looking at the other curiously.

 

Even if he hadn’t acted like anything close to the only other royalty Baekhyun knew, Yixing was still a king. Although, his easy smiles, gentle voice, and simple clothes that everyone — including Baekhyun — was wearing an identical version of made it very difficult to actually see him as such.

 

Yixing shrugged. "I’m not really a King. Would you allow me to sit next to you? I feel a little awkward standing over you like this," he confessed with an embarrassed voice.

 

Baekhyun was rendered speechless by the sheer politeness of the man for a short moment. He hadn’t been talked to with so much respect in a long time. Even his teachers, back in high school, didn’t address him so carefully.

 

"Of course," he agreed, scrambling a bit to the left to make room for the King to sit on the edge of the bed along with him.

 

"Thank you," he smiled as he moved to sit next to Baekhyun whose hand reached to play with the sleeve of his other arm. Yixing looked around the room. "I’m just someone who keeps the ghosts together. Rather than a castle, I prefer calling this place a home," he said as he gestured around himself.

 

Baekhyun looked around. The furnitures were mismatched and the room was wide but it didn’t look empty or abandoned like Chanyeol’s apartment had looked despite someone living inside.

 

"It is comfortable." Words came to him easier now, although there was remnants of awkwardness in his body. "And big."

 

Yixing turned to him again, nodding.

 

"It is quite a big place. It’s made to accommodate most of the ghosts," he said and the way he spoke those words out made it sound like he was speaking of family rather than wandering souls.

 

"How many ghosts are there?" Baekhyun couldn’t help but wonder.

 

"Hundreds of thousands," he replied and Baekhyun shouldn’t be surprised, really. "But they don’t all fit here."

 

"Where’s the rest of them then?" 

 

"A lot of ghosts refuse to actually come to the Cave and remain in the Above," Yixing said, frowning a little. That could explain the empty rooms. He didn’t seem to like it. "But we have a lot of ghosts here too, in the Haunted Waters. A lot of them don’t live here because they have their own house."

 

"The surroundings of the castle looked deserted though," Baekhyun mumbled, trying to recall if he had really not seen any other house or if it was the fear of an unknown destination that had blinded him to it.

 

"Well, it is a ghost town we’re living in," Yixing said.

 

Baekhyun looked at him for a blank moment, raising his eyebrows. Yixing looked back at him, no dimple, no frown, just slow blinks. Then, Baekhyun chortled, a bit too loud and sudden, before it turned into full laughter that Yixing joined in with his clear laugh.

 

It was such a lame joke. A ghost town. Baekhyun shook his head, shoulders shaking with the last trace of his laughter as Yixing leaned forward a little under the weight of his own. There was still some polite distance between them.

 

"Would you like to see it?" Yixing asked when they had both calmed down and Baekhyun’s body was lighter than it had been even after his bath.

 

He bit his lower lip, looking at the other hesitantly. Wasn’t there a saying about how if someone followed a ghost somewhere, they’d never come back?

 

"Just from the window," Yixing added and Baekhyun felt embarrassed at how his thoughts had probably been open on his face again.

 

He glanced at the tall windows. "Sure," he agreed then, curiosity winning over and rewarded with a wide smile from Yixing who stood up and motioned him to follow him to the window.

 

Once he stood next to him, the King raised a hand towards the window and pulled the curtain away from the glass, revealing a sight that parted Baekhyun’s lips in wonder. While he hadn’t seen anything earlier, there were rows and rows of houses outstretched behind the window, a bit far away from the castle but not enough for everything to look like ants to him. When the wonder faded, he realized that it wasn’t really clean rows of houses, nothing that was as sharp as every border he had walked through in the Cave, but rather just dozens, probably hundreds of houses planted close to each other messily, the spread cut in half by a broad road that was swarming with people dressed in white. Ghosts.

 

From this far away, it looked like a normal town. Maybe a festival of some sorts, from the way there were so many people at once on the road.

 

"You didn’t see it because the entire town can just disappear at will," Yixing said and when Baekhyun turned to him, it wasn’t at him that he was smiling but at what he was seeing through the window, the town. He looked at Baekhyun, the peacefulness on his features intact. "We’re ghosts, after all."

 

Baekhyun couldn’t help but smile. There was just something about Yixing’s face, the harmony of his features that made Baekhyun feel nice, calm, light. It was such a pleasant change from how tensed up he had almost constantly been throughout his journey with Chanyeol.

 

"That must be convenient at times," he said softly, looking back at the houses and examining them further.

 

They were just sleek, one storied blocks made out of that same singular material the castle was made of but they didn’t look eerie or anything close to repulsing. They couldn’t, not when he could see children chasing each other happily on the road.

 

"Do you sometimes wish you could disappear?" Yixing asked and when Baekhyun looked at him, his eyebrows were knitted.

 

Baekhyun turned towards him properly, humming, and Yixing let the curtain cover the window again, lacing his hands behind his back.

 

"Sometimes." Baekhyun looked down at his feet, letting out a soft sound, the beginning of a laugh. "Well, I guess I did disappear from the above, in a way."

 

"I’m amazed a human can survive here," Yixing said and when Baekhyun looked at him again, there was wonderment in the shape of his round mouth and curiosity in the intensity of his gaze. Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel a hint of pride at the fact that he had indeed survived so far. "How long has it been?"

 

It took him a while to reply. He had lost count. "A few days? More than a week for sure, maybe two."

 

Yixing let out a sound of amazement and Baekhyun smiled abashedly.

 

"It must be difficult," Yixing said, voice a bit lower now, lips pursed.

 

"I guess I got used to it," Baekhyun shrugged. 

 

Being with Chanyeol was the hardest part of the journey. And yet, something inside of him knew it was also the most comfortable part of this all, at the same time.

 

He wondered if Chanyeol was sleeping already, if he had a room as wide as his. Had he taken his bath alone or got someone to help him after dealing with his wound?

 

When he noticed the silence and looked back at Yixing’s face rather than his shoulder where his gaze had been lost, he met curious eyes. Yixing didn’t look away when their eyes met. He seemed to have been staring all along and Baekhyun shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He didn’t like being stared at, it made him feel uncomfortable usually but now, it wasn’t really the bad kind of discomfort that he was feeling. Yixing didn’t give him the impression of looking for flaws all over his face in order to throw them back at him relentlessly for a month before finding another aspect of Baekhyun to make fun of.

 

Baekhyun parted his lips to ask if something was wrong, if he had somehow missed a stain on his face while bathing, but before he could say anything, Yixing spoke.

 

"Would you allow me to touch you?" he asked with utmost nonchalance, although the way he leaned just a bit closer to Baekhyun spoke of hopefulness.

 

"What?" was the only thing Baekhyun could say as he took a step back, gaze intent on Yixing, apprehension gathering in his stomach again.

 

Yixing immediately took a step back too and waved his hands in front of him.

 

"Forgive me for asking such a thing," he apologized and Baekhyun was surprised to see him adverting his gaze and looking down at his feet instead. "I just— It’s just that I haven’t touched anything that’s alive in so long," he confessed, voice losing all its sturdy calm and falling down to a shy mumble instead.

 

Baekhyun pressed his lips together, now feeling bad for having overreacted. 

 

"But can’t ghosts go to the Above at will?" he asked, confused.

 

Yixing looked at him again and his shoulders drooped, perhaps in relief. He seemed to have thought he had greatly offended or scared Baekhyun. 

 

"Yes, our soul wanders outside of the Cave because we’re unfulfilled. Something holds us back in the Above so we’re stuck between life and death," he explained before letting out a soft sigh. "But I don’t wander in the Above. I have to stay here and make sure that order is kept."

 

"What is it?" Baekhyun asked, a hint of hesitance in his voice. Yixing gave him a confused look. "What makes you unfulfilled?"

 

Yixing parted his lips, closing them again for a short moment before speaking.

 

"I used to have an empire to rule but I failed," he answered, tilting his head down. "It’s my fault that things ended badly. I ruined it and I cannot fix it anymore but it’s holding me back."

 

"Which empire?" Baekhyun asked, taking a step closer to Yixing again. He felt a little better when the King smiled at him widely when he noticed it. He had looked too sad for a moment.

 

"It doesn’t matter," Yixing shook his head. "It’s not who I am anymore. I’m just Yixing now."

 

Baekhyun smiled at that. He was still a Ruler, even in the afterlife. And somehow that wasn’t even surprising. Yixing seemed to be such a nice King, down to earth, caring about his people, and he exuded such a comforting vibe. Baekhyun pressed his lips together.

 

"You can touch me, if you want," he said, no trace of apprehension in his voice anymore.

 

"Can I?" Yixing asked, frowning a little, his gaze jolting between both of Baekhyun’s eyes, expression serious.

 

Baekhyun nodded, widening his smile to show the other he didn’t fear him anymore. He truly had no reason to.

 

It took another short moment of silence and observation before Yixing took the last step that separated them and raised a hand just as slowly as he had raised it to tug the curtain away from the window. This time, his hand cupped Baekhyun’s cheek and it wasn’t a town that he was looking at, but Baekhyun’s face.

 

Baekhyun couldn’t feel the weight of his touch. Now that he was being touched by a ghost on his bare skin, his cheek, he could notice that the only sign of it was a slight feeling of cold, light as a weak breeze. Yixing seemed to be able to feel his skin though, a slight smile tugged on his lips as Baekhyun felt the breeze moving along his cheek, sliding down to his jaw.

 

"Your skin feels so real," Yixing said, voice lowered down to a whisper. Baekhyun expected to be repulsed by the knowledge that he was being touched by a  ghost but it felt calming, almost refreshing. "I haven’t touched anything that’s warm in so long."

 

It felt weird, hearing that. Yet, Baekhyun couldn’t look away from Yixing’s face, watching as his lips remained parted in amazement, gaze focused on his hand as it caressed Baekhyun’s cheek. Then, Baekhyun felt a ruffle in his hair and Yixing’s gaze shifted to the top of his head. His eyes were dark yet they seemed to be so clear, not enough for Baekhyun to decipher the emotions in them, but enough for him to think he could see a few sparkles in his irises.

 

"So soft," Yixing whispered and Baekhyun wondered if he was even conscious of what he was saying as he caressed his hair. "So alive."

 

Baekhyun looked away at those words. His hands found each other, fingers tangling together in front of him. He shouldn’t really take that as a compliment. It would be utterly weird to and yet, he felt his cheeks bunching up into a smile. 

 

The sensation of refreshment was back on his cheek and he looked up at Yixing, startled but unmoving when he noticed that he had leaned closer and was smiling at him.

 

"I forgot cheeks could blush," he said with the same amazement as someone impressed by the special effects of a movie. He looked into Baekhyun’s eyes then, smile as sparkly as his eyes. "You’re very beautiful."

 

When he pulled away entirely from Baekhyun, the latter found himself in a momentary daze. No one had ever used that word to talk about him. It didn’t really sound fitting and yet, it wasn’t repulsing either. It felt nice, even if it got his stomach churning a little bit.

 

Yixing closed his eyes then and Baekhyun pulled a breath in as he took the occasion to observe him. He looked nice. The air of gentleness and calm that seemed to constantly flutter around him added to the harmony of his features, made him look even more handsome. His dimple was charming when he smiled, eyes remaining closed as his chest puffed up as if he was taking a deep breath in. His skin was pale, almost paper-white in a lifeless, eery way. His skin wasn’t blue.

 

It lacked color and Baekhyun found himself looking for another touch of color with no success, it was nothing but white and fairness and the black of his long hair and eyes when he looked at Baekhyun again.

 

"You’re a good soul," he suddenly said, surprising Baekhyun who let out a quiet laugh.

 

"How do you know?" he asked.

 

Yixing’s gaze trailed over him and Baekhyun should’ve felt self-conscious but he didn’t really. The King had seen him with dirt stains all over his clothes and face, greasy hair, and hands tied together. At this point, just the knowledge that he was clean came off as a pride. This world really turned him into someone a tad weirder than he already was.

 

"Because you’re shining so brightly," Yixing eventually answered. Baekhyun had heard a similar thing from Chanyeol before. He didn’t notice his skin shining or anything of that sort though, so maybe it wasn’t something he could see.

 

"Do I?" he still huffed out in a laugh, raising his hand and looking at it even if he knew he’d see nothing.

 

Yixing nodded, dimple softening the movement. 

 

"That’s how you can easily be distinguishable from the dead and the ill." Baekhyun knew he referred to the ill souls, the sinners. Yixing closed his eyes again. "And you smell so nice too."

 

Chanyeol had never said that to him. When Yixing opened his eyes again, Baekhyun realized that the reason why his eyes had been closed earlier was because he was smelling the air.

 

"Thank you," was the only thing he found to say, unsure how to reply to such appraising words. Or at least, words that he thought were appraising.

 

Yixing waved him off with a hand.

 

"No, I should be the one to thank you."

 

"For what?" Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows.

 

Yixing shrugged, smile shrinking a little and taking in a saddened air. "For letting me taste life again after several centuries."

 

Baekhyun fumbled with his fingers, concern pushing him to look at Yixing for a silent while. He looked sad. Baekhyun wasn’t sure what he could say to comfort him, wasn’t even sure the other wanted or needed to be comforted. He didn’t like the absence of a dimple on Yixing’s cheek, though. Smiles suited him.

 

Yixing seemed to get her his emotions himself, however, smiling at Baekhyun again and gesturing towards the door.

 

"Dinner should be served by now. We should go," he offered, the tilt of his head inviting.

 

Perhaps following a ghost wasn’t such a scary thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While monsters eating food could make sense, ghosts eating was something that Baekhyun couldn’t really work out.

 

After gathering the courage to ask Yixing about it without offending him as they had walked towards the dining room, he had gotten an answer. He seemed much more open to providing information about ghost anatomy and the Haunted Waters than Chanyeol had always been about giving any kind of information.

 

He had explained that contrary to popular belief, ghosts had a body. They were souls, but just like other monsters they had a shell. The only difference was that while other monsters’ body texture was close to human’s or animals, ghosts were mostly made of fumes, their shell lighter and weaker than any other monster in the Cave. It made sense, it explained why they could fly - although, Yixing had laughed when Baekhyun had said that. He had explained that they couldn’t fly per se, just hover over the ground and that only the most powerful ghosts could do that. Baekhyun still found it cool.

 

When they had entered the dining room, Baekhyun had the knowledge that ghosts could actually eat even if it wasn’t a necessity and therefore, he wasn’t that surprised to find a long table stretched through the whole width of the room. It was garnished with various dishes, some of them Baekhyun recognized as human dishes but a lot of them seemed to be made of leaves and things that Baekhyun had seen outside, amongst trees and bushes. 

 

The long table accommodated dozens of ghosts, people who looked at Yixing as soon as they entered the room but didn’t bow, simply smiled and welcomed him with nice words and enthusiasm. Yixing returned it all and he really did not look like a King. Maybe a guardian, someone loved by every single person in this room. 

 

He guided Baekhyun towards one extremity of the table, taking a seat at the head of it while Baekhyun sat perpendicularly on his left. Chanyeol was settled next to him already and Baekhyun looked at him, feeling something in him loosen when he noted that he looked okay, adorning the white robes that made his skin look softer. He was the only touch of bright color in the room.

 

"Are you okay?" he asked, surprising Baekhyun who didn’t expect him to talk to him yet alone lean so close, gaze trailing over him.

 

It was loud in the room, everyone was talking and eating, Yixing himself conversing with whoever was sitting close enough to him to hear his voice. Baekhyun nodded.

 

"Yeah, I’m alright," he said, looking away from Chanyeol and down at his plate. It was filled with something like rolls of leaves. There was no doubt garniture inside. It didn’t look too appealing but Baekhyun hadn’t eaten anything but sandwiches in days, the bread stall and tasteless. He looked back at Chanyeol who hadn’t turned his gaze away. "And you? You okay?"

 

"Yep," he said with a toothy smile. 

 

Baekhyun looked at his shoulder, the white fabric of his clothes pristine, a  clear sign that he wasn’t bleeding anymore and that maybe they had wrapped up his wound. He smiled. 

 

He didn’t want to smile. He wanted to be annoyed at Chanyeol but all he could feel was relief. He had worried about that wound a lot and he was glad someone had taken care of it. Chanyeol looked away from him, shoving one of the leaf rolls into his mouth unceremoniously. 

 

Baekhyun chewed on his lower lip. Chanyeol wasn’t being talkative. With a sigh, he leaned closer to him and lowered his voice.

 

"Did we really get lost?" he asked, looking around him to make sure no one was watching them or listening to them.

 

There was no answer and when he looked back at Chanyeol, he met no gaze. Chanyeol was looking straight ahead of him, a smile still on his lips, although this one was smaller, sharper. Baekhyun followed his gaze and looked at the woman sitting right across from Chanyeol. She was looking back at Chanyeol, a light smile on her lips as her fingers played with her wine glass — a clear liquid filled it, however, maybe water. She was pretty, with her lined eyes and the long braid her hair was weaved into.

 

Baekhyun pressed his lips together, pulled away from Chanyeol but looked at him with more insistence.

 

"Chanyeol," he called through gritted teeth, trying his hardest to stay quiet despite the growing irritation. "Did we get lost for real?"

 

It was with a frown that Chanyeol snapped his gaze towards him.

 

"Can you stay silent for a second here?" he mumbled, with enough annoyance that Baekhyun leaned away entirely, a sourness bursting under his tongue.

 

He didn’t try talking to him again for the rest of the meal and even if he tried, it would’ve led to the same situation. Chanyeol ignoring him in favor of talking to the ghost sitting across him. When he saw him pouring what actually looked like wine into her glass as they laughed about something Baekhyun didn’t catch, he decided not to look at Chanyeol again.

 

He shoved one of the leaf rolls into his mouth and munched on it energetically, hoping it would overpower the bitterness staining his mouth. Of course, Chanyeol would treat him like shit but smile so widely at pretty ghosts. Baekhyun still didn’t know what he had done to deserve this, still didn’t know if Chanyeol was still hung up on the fact that Baekhyun was human and he was not. He didn’t know why he even felt that spike of envy he used to fall victim of back in high school, when he sat alone during recess and everyone was laughing with their own friends. Stronger, though. This felt worse.

 

And he didn’t care. He didn’t want to care. This would be done soon. Or at least, he hoped so.

 

"Is the food to your taste, Baekhyun?" a lulling voice asked from beside him and he turned to Yixing, the smile that he had seen for less than an evening surprisingly anchoring him a little.

 

Baekhyun nodded, swallowing down the food and only then noticing that it actually wasn’t that bad. It was a peculiar taste, felt scrunchy yet soft in his mouth but he recognized the rice and spices garnished in the roll.

 

"Yes, it’s… different but good," he said honestly, to which Yixing laughed, not offended in the least. Baekhyun smiled a genuine smile. "Where do you get the food?" he then wondered, hoping that Yixing would show just as much enthusiasm as earlier concerning educating Baekhyun on ghost culture.

 

Yixing’s smile widened and Baekhyun stared at his dimple for a short moment. It was cute. Yixing still hadn’t said anything when Baekhyun looked back up into his eyes and he wondered if he had actually offended him.

 

"You really ask a lot of questions," he said and there was no real reproach in his tone but Baekhyun had a feeling Yixing was too polite to even reproach something to a stranger.

 

"Sorry," he apologized, embarrassment stifling his voice as he looked away.

 

Chanyeol’s chair scrapped on the floor a little and Baekhyun looked towards him. He met his gaze, surprisingly. His frown seemed to indicate he had heard Baekhyun apologize. It was that disapproving expression he always had whenever Baekhyun apologized. Then, a hand pressed on his arm and he turned to his right. The pretty ghost was sitting next to him now.

 

"Oh no," Yixing said, calling back for Baekhyun’s attention. He wasn’t smiling anymore but somehow, it still looked like he was. "It’s not a bad thing at all. I actually find it quite adorable."

 

He let out a surprised laugh at those words, shaking his head. Yixing’s gaze fell to his cheeks and Baekhyun hoped he wasn’t doing anything embarrassing like flushing.

 

"I’m just still amazed about this world, I guess," he explained.

 

Yixing shook his head again, reassuring. "We get the food through the Whistling Portals. Ghosts can actually steal things from the Above and bring them back here with no need for a door or anything of that sort but it’s easier through a portal, especially for bigger things like furniture. We have one Whistling Portal," he said before stopping and pressing his lips together into somewhat of an abashed smile. "It’s actually quite hypocritical of me, isn’t it?"

 

"No, why would it be?" Baekhyun questioned, unsure why the other would think that way.

 

"I said they were a bad idea earlier. The portals," he added and Baekhyun hummed when he recalled that moment. "My ghosts feel more human this way. With this castle, the furniture, the food. I cannot take that away from them."

 

Baekhyun felt his lips curving into a smile. "You seem to care about your people a lot."

 

"I care about everyone," the King shrugged before looking somewhere over Baekhyun’s shoulder. "How long will you stay with us?"

 

Baekhyun looked at him in confusion before turning to his right. Chanyeol was looking at Yixing, probably had been looking at him for a while. He didn’t know why he felt annoyed that Chanyeol could listen to their conversation while Baekhyun felt like he was being completely rejected from _his_ conversation with the pretty ghost.

 

Chanyeol still didn’t look at him, however.

 

"Alas we’ll have to resume our journey after two days," he said, still giving Yixing that grateful smile that looked utterly fabricated to Baekhyun. He used to be a conman, after all.

 

"Two days?" Yixing repeated softly before looking at Baekhyun. "I’d like to enjoy your company as much as I can while you’re here. Would you like to go on a walk with me in the gardens? Once you’re done eating, of course."

 

"You have a garden? How can you have a garden here?" Baekhyun couldn’t help but blurt out.

 

Yixing laughed again and this time, it was louder, a sound as clear as the rush of a river. Baekhyun could’ve felt embarrassed but he didn’t. It felt nice to know someone was laughing because of him.

 

Yixing reached to ruffle his hair and Baekhyun startled a little, out of reflex.

 

"I’ll reply to all your questions during our walk," he said, not mockingly. Nicely. Kindly.

 

It felt nice to be treated with kindness. Baekhyun nodded, accepting eagerly. He wanted to enjoy the kindness as much as he could while they were here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Yixing had talked about a garden, Baekhyun had expected something small, maybe a few flower beds, maybe a few trees in a courtyard along with benches they could sit on. 

 

However, what he had strode through with Yixing was anything but simple and small. They had walked for a while, a long while, because the garden was big, much bigger than what Baekhyun had initially expected. It stretched all behind the castle and Baekhyun wouldn't be able to give an accurate measurement nor an accurate amount of time they had spent walking but he could confidently say that each second he had forgotten to count had been a a moment to remember.

 

The garden was beautiful. He had seen benches, a lot of them, most of them occupied by children or elderly people, even a couple of ghosts who had been holding hands and smiling at each other silently. Even that hadn't been enough to make the garden seem creepy to him. It couldn't seem like anything negative, not when there were so many trees, all of them with the same gooey leaves from the previous forests he had walked through. He wasn't sure these trees were the same though, he didn't try touching them from fear of his hand going right through the trunk again like the last time he had tried. 

 

Aside from garnished trees, Baekhyun had been amazed by the flowers he had seen. There was only one color, a blueish white that was different from the shade the castle was covered in. It was lighter, looked frailer and despite it being the only color, there had been quite different species of flowers framing the clean, gravy paths they had been walking on. Some of them had been small, tinier than his thumbnail, and others had long petals that fluttered in the air even if there had been no wind to accompany their walk. 

 

Baekhyun had seen more of those translucent orbs hovering in the air, small and sparkling against the white petals all around them. Baekhyun had asked Yixing what they were and Yixing had told him that they were souls too, that not all unfulfilled souls turned into ghosts. Some of them remained as this kind of orbs, wandering both in the Above and in the Cave.

 

His company made the short walk through the garden even more pleasant. He had laughed when Baekhyun had tried touching a flower and startled away from it as soon as he could actually feel the flower since he had expected it to be a ghost just like the last tree he had touched. He had splashed Baekhyun with little droplets of water after dipping his hand in the stream that ran all through the garden. He had told him that it took its source at the river the ghosts had picked them up from. And when Baekhyun had asked what that river was exactly, he hadn't hesitated to tell him that it was where every ghost fell after being judged by the Almighty, that the eight ghosts they had met there usually picked the ghosts up from the river.

 

When Baekhyun had splashed him back with water, he had laughed loudly. He was nice, kind, and replied to every single one of Baekhyun's questions even if Baekhyun knew it could get annoying after a while. But Yixing hadn't looked annoyed even once, just eager to talk to Baekhyun, eager to look at him. He had looked at Baekhyun a lot and he knew it was only because he hadn't seen anything that was alive in such a long time. Baekhyun didn't mind. Yixing was nice. Yixing made him feel nice. Made him feel like they were friends, even if they had met only hours ago, maybe less.

 

It was only when the wind started rising that they had gone back to the castle and it was with a smile that they parted ways in the hallway, Baekhyun waving at him merrily as he opened the door to his bedroom. 

 

He only noticed that he was tired when he dropped himself on the bed. This time, he didn't toss and turn uneasily. This time, he laid comfortably on the cushy mattress and smiled to himself as he closed his eyes. He hadn't enjoyed himself in such a long time. Yixing was a nice friend.

 

Comfortable and tired, he could slowly feel drowsiness covering him up like a welcoming blanket - one that was snatched away when three knocks called him.

 

He opened his eyes and sat up, looking at the door. Maybe Yixing had forgotten to tell him something or maybe he wanted to spend more time with him. 

 

With a smile, he walked to the door and opened it. Disappointment faded his smile away the tiniest bit when it was crimson eyes that he met.

 

It was soon overpowered by the realization that he hadn't seen Chanyeol in a while. Hours. Maybe less. He wasn't sure but it had been a while, even if he hadn't felt Chanyeol's absence all through his walk in the garden. 

 

But now, as Baekhyun could finally see his first glimpse of blue in a while, he felt his shoulders deflating. He hadn't noticed the tension clutching them until then.

 

Chanyeol was standing in front of him, an expectant look on his face. Baekhyun then realized that he had been staring at him silently for too long.

 

"Hi," he said, wincing at his own awkwardness.

 

It came as a relief when Chanyeol merely snorted at him. It was something he was used to now. It wasn't a deprecating sound either. Just amusement. Baekhyun could tell from the way his sharp teeth peeked at him through his smile. 

 

"Aren't you going to invite me in? We haven't seen each other in a while," Chanyeol said then and Baekhyun's mind went blank for a second. It was as if Chanyeol had pried the words away from his head and used them himself.

 

"Yeah. Right. Sure," he rushed to say, stepping away and opening the door wider for Chanyeol to step in.

 

He did, after a second of hesitation. Baekhyun wasn't sure why he hesitated when he was the one to ask Baekhyun to invite him in. He wasn't even sure why Chanyeol had actually knocked. He had thought that he would be the kind to just barge in. He had seemingly been wrong. There was still a lot of things he had to learn about Chanyeol. 

 

Once Chanyeol was inside, Baekhyun closed the door and observed him.

 

"We have the exact same room," he said nonchalantly and Baekhyun found it weird. Chanyeol was talking to him now.

 

It didn't really make him happy. Chanyeol had been ignoring him at dinner and now he was paying him a visit in his room. It made Baekhyun feel like he was just a victim of Chanyeol's mood swings. Not pleasant at all.

 

But he said nothing, stepping closer to the other because at least, they could communicate a bit now.

 

"What have you been doing?" Baekhyun asked when Chanyeol turned to him and said nothing.

 

His gaze didn't make him feel uncomfortable anymore, Baekhyun had gotten used to the vibrant colors. It felt nice to look into such dark yet clear, colored irises after looking into nothing but the black of Yixing's eyes for a while. Baekhyun didn't know when exactly had the crimson of Chanyeol's eyes become a comfort to him.

 

Instead of replying, Chanyeol stepped closer to him, still silent. Baekhyun then realized that his hands were behind his back the same way Yixing's always were. Not for long, however, as Chanyeol suddenly pulled one hand away and held something out to him with it.

 

"Here," was all he said as Baekhyun looked down at what he was holding.

 

The black of his claws were striking against the colorful cover of the comic book he was clutching. Baekhyun recognized it and automatically, his hand reached for it as a smile curled on his lips. It was his favorite comic book.

 

He took it from Chanyeol, his fingertips grazing the other's claws. He barely even noticed it, the excitement that bubbled in his chest much too distracting for him to.

 

He stared at the cover, at the colors, the characters, and noted the scratches on the hard surface. It was a well-used, well-read comics. Baekhyun's finger pads felt warm as they caressed the letters hanging over his favorite character's head. He pressed the book against his chest and looked at Chanyeol.

 

"How did you know?" he asked, voice low because he didn't want the other to hear the emotion in his voice.

 

This was such an insignificant gesture, something so small, so tiny. But it meant  a lot to Baekhyun. Because Chanyeol knew, he probably knew that this was Baekhyun's favorite comic book. Baekhyun kept it on his bedside table at all times, read it almost every night, simply skimming through the pages because the vibrant colors and the familiar dialogue he knew almost by heart were some kind of comfort to him. A home inside his house.

 

Chanyeol shrugged, hands trailing over his tummy before he let them hang on his sides. He had a habit of always shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. It was a habit they shared. 

 

"You used to read it often," he said before shrugging again and looking around some more, stepping towards the window. 

 

He was taller than Yixing, Baekhyun noted. He could actually see his shoes peeking under his robes, they hung on his body a bit shorter than they did for everyone else. He looked completely nonchalant. Baekhyun pressed the comics book harder against his chest, fingers digging into the hard cover. 

 

He was tired of this. Of this habit of Chanyeol. Going from hot to cold without any kind of warning. Dragging Baekhyun again and again through each extremities without ever letting him stop and take a deep breath to adjust. Never even asking Baekhyun was temperature he wanted him to stay on. Always making Baekhyun feel like he was at the mercy of Chanyeol's moods.

 

It didn't feel nice. It didn't feel nice at all and Baekhyun could feel the weight of it on his shoulders, crooking him forwards a little bit.

 

He was tired and it was that same exact weight that pushed his next words out of his mouth. 

 

"Why are you like this?" he asked, voice as clear as possible, gaze steady on Chanyeol.

 

He caught the exact moment Chanyeol froze before his hand fell from the curtain and he turned towards Baekhyun. There was no emotion on his face again. Nothing, not even surprise or curiosity. Baekhyun was tired of having to figure out every single one of Chanyeol's thoughts without the other ever making it any easier for him. 

 

"How?" was the only thing Chanyeol said, voice low and slow, but not stretched with curiosity or confusion.

 

Baekhyun knew that was an useless question. He knew Chanyeol knew exactly what he meant. It only made his fingers scratch against the comics book he was holding, only made his voice sound harsher when he spoke again.

 

"Sometimes you treat me like shit," he said, hoping Chanyeol would flinch at his wording. He didn't. He didn't budge, didn't step closer, only looked at Baekhyun in silence, patient. Baekhyun deflated a little. This wasn't him. Even if he was angry, he didn't want to accuse the other. "But sometimes you treat me like we're both just humans stupidly bickering," he said pressed his lips together. His voice wasn't stifled when he spoke again. "Like friends."

 

Silence was the only answer he was granted for a moment. When it stretched on for too long, Baekhyun chanced a glance at Chanyeol. He caught the twist of his lips before it was wiped away, along with Baekhyun's own breath when Chanyeol spoke again.

 

"We're not friends. I don't want to be your friend," Chanyeol said and there was no significant increase or shift in his tone but Baekhyun still felt those words striking him, as cold as Chanyeol's fiery gaze felt. "You and I can't be friends, Baekhyun."

 

When Chanyeol walked past him, not touching him, not looking at him, not talking to him, Baekhyun felt the same discomfort as he used to feel back in his father's house, whenever night would fall and the wind would whistle against his window like a screeching monster. It had never been the wind. It had never been _that_ wind.

 

The door didn't close with a slam when Chanyeol left. It closed with a soft sound. Baekhyun felt it echo in his head nonetheless, like an endless rejection.

 

He counted the seconds as he stood there. Twenty two seconds. He replayed Chanyeol's words twenty two times in his head. 

 

They weren't friends. Chanyeol didn't want to be his friend. Chanyeol and he couldn't be friends. Because Chanyeol didn't want to.

 

When he counted the twenty third second, Baekhyun lowered the comics book, pulling it away from where it had been pressed into his chest. He felt his chest puffing up. It wasn't pleasant. It wasn't pleasant because it was much more than exhaustion now. He felt anger punching against his chest, trying, pushing him into doing something. Into doing something over than letting Chanyeol dictate the friendship Baekhyun so desperately wanted.

 

Until then. The friendship Baekhyun had so desperately wanted until then. Until that exact moment. Not any longer. Because he was tired. Because Chanyeol wanted to make friends with pretty ghosts, not Baekhyun, and that was okay. 

 

Because Baekhyun didn't need Chanyeol's friendship. It wasn't a necessity. He could live without it and it was so stupid of him to hang onto this so much. He didn't need it.

 

He looked down at the comic book he was still holding in one hand. He didn't need it. He didn't need it at all. He strode towards the vanity on the corner of his room, leaned to grab his bag from where it had been dumped against the wall when he had first stepped into the bedroom. He opened it, fingers harsh as they pulled at the zipper, even harsher as they shoved the comics inside, out of sight, and then dumped the bag back on the floor.

 

He didn't need it.

 

He could live without it. A friendship. Chanyeol's friendship. He didn't need it.

 

The more he repeated those words to himself in his head, huddled under his blanket, buried under his pillows, away from whistling winds and flower-colored skin, the truer they sounded.


End file.
